FIRST RESPONDERS FIGHT CHICAGO VACCINE MANDATE By Cara Ding
The Coming Coal Crisis
Trapped In a ‘Dead’ City
Trouble on the Farm
Calls come for ending coal use, but its shortage is a crisis. p.12
The true cost of China’s zero-COVID policies. p.40
Growers struggle with rising costs of keeping soil productive. p.26
NOVEMBER 5–11, 2021 | $6.95
Editor's Note
‘Our House Is on Fire’ O ur cover story this week tells of the opposition of some first responders to Chicago’s vaccine mandate. For nearly two years, first responders have worked tirelessly during the pandemic. One such person is Scott Troogstad, a fire captain from Chicago. He and his team remained on the front line of the pandemic. Now, however, Troogstad is on forced unpaid leave because he refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Troogstad is not the only one, as first responders in major cities across the country have been put on unpaid leave. Their reasons vary. Some have sought but been denied religious or medical exemptions. Others have acquired natural immunity from previous COVID-19 infection, and others oppose the infringement on freedom. “That’s the way I feel about it—we are at a point where you have to act to preserve the American freedom for our children,” Troogstad told The Epoch Times. For Chicago police officer Stephanie Mingari, the city’s handling of the situation doesn’t make sense when you look at the situation on the ground. “You are pulling police officers. What about the thousands of people who have been shot or killed this year? What are the priorities?” she said. Mingari says that, to her, “this is not about the vaccine,” but “about our rights and a lawful order.” Around two dozen unions representing Chicago workers have sued the city over the mandate. In the case of the police unions, Judge Raymond Mitchell wrote in an order: “It is worth remembering that in the darkest days of the pandemic and the months that followed, when I worked remotely in the safety of my home, the men and women of the Chicago Police Department showed up to work.” “In light of their terrible sacrifice, the police unions’ request just to have their grievances heard seems a pretty modest ask.” Jasper Fakkert Editor-in-chief
2 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
STEPHEN GREGORY PUBLISHER JASPER FAKKERT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CHANNALY PHILIPP LIFE & TRADITION, TRAVEL EDITOR CHRISY TRUDEAU MIND & BODY EDITOR CRYSTAL SHI HOME, FOOD EDITOR SHARON KILARSKI ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR BILL LINDSEY LUXURY EDITOR
ON THE COVER This week’s front page shows Chicago fire captain Scott Troogstad, who was put on unpaid leave for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. NATHANIEL SMITH FOR THE EPOCH TIMES
FEI MENG, BIBA KAJEVICH & JUNHAO SU ILLUSTRATORS 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.
issue 06 | november 19–25, 2021
26 | Trouble
50 | Thanksgiving
on the Farm Growers are struggling to keep their soil productive.
Practicing gratitude every day is a lifechanging practice.
51 | Valuing Nature
28 | On the Road
Planning changes when the value of nature is factored in.
Truck schools are thriving amid a shortage of drivers.
52 | Saving America
36 | Cybersecurity
Witness warns of parallels between U.S. today and China’s Cultural Revolution.
Spyware accusations against the government are rocking India.
40 | ‘Dead’ City
The cost of China’s zero-COVID policy.
45| CIA & CCP
The CIA’s China operations have failed since at least 2010.
46| US Labor
Shortage Can immigration relieve the country’s labor shortage?
47 | Chinese Stocks
Are your investment portfolios genocidefree?
48 | Inflation
The US infrastructure plan could be hugely inflationary.
49 | China's
Propery Market Is Beijing backtracking on its draconian propertymarket policies?
56 | Villa With
Features
12 | Coal Crisis Calls come for ending coal use, but its shortage is a crisis. 18 | Take a Stand First responders are giving their all to fight for what they believe in. 30 | Vagrants in Venice An upscale LA neighborhood deals with a homelessness crisis brought by a violent crowd of transients. CVS announced on Nov. 18 that it's closing 900 stores nationwide over the next three years in response to “changing buying patterns.” PHOTO BY MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES
a View A stunning seafront escape in Crete offers commanding vistas.
58 | Luang Prabang
A tranquil river town in Laos enchants with its rich culture.
60 | Fermented
Splendor A sampling of domestic and imported ciders for the holidays.
61 | Good Manners
A refresher on thank you notes for the gift giving season.
64 | Motorcycle Tours Answer the call of an open-road adventure on two wheels.
67 | Precise Timing
A look at the most impressive new chronograph watches.
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 3
4 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
S U C O F NI UNWELCOME PRESENT A Ugandan bomb squad member prepares to detonate a suspicious box wrapped with a ribbon, on a fence near the Central Police Station in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov. 16. Two explosions hit the Ugandan capital of Kampala on the same day, injuring a number of people in what police termed an attack on the city. PHOTO BY BADRU KATUMBA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 5
INCLUDED IN YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
Exclusive interviews, shows, documentaries, movies and more.
Go to THEEPOCHTIMES.COM 6 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
NAT ION • WOR L D • W H AT H A P P E N E D T H I S W E E K
The Week
Issue. 06
GOP lawmakers are calling into question the "accuracy and completeness” of AG Merrick Garland’s testimony before the House Judiciary panel last month. PHOTO BY OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
FBI Whistleblower Claims DOJ Used Counterterrorism Tools Against Parents House Judiciary minority alleges whistleblower disclosure is evidence of partisan use of counter-terror resources
✒
AN UNNAMED WHISTLEBLOWER disclosed documents suggesting that the FBI is using its counterterrorism resources to investigate parents or individuals who threaten school board members, teachers, or other staff, according to a letter sent by the House Judiciary GOP dated Nov. 16. The GOP letter included copies of the documents allegedly sourced from the FBI whistleblower that included an email sent by Carlton L. Peeples, who serves in the bureau’s Inspection Division, saying that the Counterterrorism and Criminal Division “created a threat tag, EDUOFFICIALS, to track instances of related threats.” I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 7
The Week in Short US
GOP LAWMAKERS CRITICIZE BIDEN FOR NOT TAKING TOUGH STANCE DURING SUMMIT WITH XI
President Joe Biden has received mixed responses from Congress over his virtual meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with several Republican lawmakers calling the president out for not pressing Xi on Beijing’s various aggressions. Biden and Xi on Nov. 15 talked for about 3 1/2 hours in their first-ever virtual summit, focusing on issues that included Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Taiwan. According to the White House, Biden raised concerns about China’s human rights violations and unfair trade and economic practices. After the summit, a senior administration official said the leaders didn’t reach any “breakthrough” on issues concerning both countries.
NOT VOTING 3% NO 29%
US Could Default Soon After Dec. 15 Yellen Warns
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress that the Treasury Department could potentially be unable to meet the government’s financial obligations around Dec. 15. In a letter to congressional leaders, Yellen said the deadline for a potential government default was extended to Dec. 15 from Dec. 3. The new deadline means Congress has more time to raise the federal debt ceiling, which currently 8 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
SENATORS VOTED TO CONFIRM JONATHAN KANTER OF MARYLAND TO BE AN ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL. SOURCE: U.S. SENATE VOTED ON NOV. 16
stands at $28.9 trillion. “To ensure the full faith and credit of the United States, it is critical that Congress raise or suspend the debt limit as soon as possible,” Yellen told congressional leaders. Besides raising or suspending the debt limit, lawmakers must also approve a budget by Dec. 3 when current stopgap funding measures runs out.
Enes Kanter, player, Boston Celtics, calling on Beijing to end its forced organ harvesting.
CDC: No Record of Naturally Immune Transmitting COVID-19 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that it has no record of people who are naturally immune transmitting the virus that causes COVID-19. In the fall, the CDC received a request from an attorney on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network for documents “reflecting any documented case of an individual who: (1) never received a COVID-19 vaccine; (2) was infected with COVID-19 once, recovered, and then later became infected again; and (3) transmitted SARS-CoV-2 [Chinese Communist Party virus] to another person when reinfected.” The CDC has confirmed to The Epoch Times that its Emergency Operations Center didn’t find any records responsive to the request.
95,000
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS President Joe Biden’s administration
has released nearly 95,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. interior without court dates, a top official revealed.
THIS PAGE: MANDEL NGAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK, KEVIN C. COX/GETTY IMAGES, KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK. RIGHT PAGE: ED JONES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, BRANDON BELL/GETTY IMAGES, APU GOMES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The FDA has asked a federal judge to give it 55 years to fully release data tied to the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
YES 68%
Stop murdering for organs. It’s a crime against humanity.
The Week in Short US BORDER SECURITY
Some Border Patrol Agents Preparing to Be Fired Over Vaccine Mandate
Municipal workers march across the Brooklyn bridge during a protest against the COVID19 vaccine mandate, in New York on Oct. 25. VACCINE MANDATE
Conservative-Majority Court to Decide on Vaccine Mandate The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, dominated by Republicannominated judges, was chosen at random on Nov. 16 to deal with the flurry of lawsuits against the Biden administration’s private business COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The court was the winner of a lottery that was triggered by multiple appeals courts receiving challenges to the mandate, which was promulgated at the behest of President Joe Biden and will affect every business with 100 or more workers if it’s allowed to take effect. Thirty-four petitions for review, or suits, were filed against the mandate. At least one petition was filed in every court of appeals in the nation. Federal law states that challenges to a rule in multiple appeals courts shall lead to a lottery, from which one court is picked. That court then handles the cases, which are consolidated.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) won’t release the number, but it’s likely that the jobs of thousands of Border Patrol agents are on the chopping block if their requests for COVID-19 vaccine exemptions aren’t accepted or if they simply refuse to get the jab. Agents were required to report their vaccination status and submit relevant exemptions to the department by midnight Nov. 8. They face termination if not fully vaccinated by Nov. 22. Several Border Patrol agents told The Epoch Times that they’d prefer to keep their jobs but are preparing to be fired if the agency denies their religious exemption.
Border Patrol agents and members of the National Guard patrol a checkpoint in Texas on Sept. 22.
CALIFORNIA
LA’s Staples Center to Unveil New ‘Crypto.com Arena’ Name on Christmas Day
The Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on May 9, 2020.
The Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles is getting a new name, stakeholders announced. The venue, which opened in 1999, will be called Crypto.com Arena for the next 20 years, following a deal between the Singapore cryptocurrency exchange and Staples Center owner Anschutz Entertainment Group. The new name, as well as the new logo and other branding, will be unveiled on Christmas Day when the
Los Angeles Lakers host the Brooklyn Nets, according to the statement. All of the center’s external signage will be replaced by June 2022. The new deal includes official designations across Crypto.com Arena, L.A. LIVE, Microsoft Theater, The Novo, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the LA Kings, which will strategically place the digital currency exchange “at the forefront of the global sports and live-entertainment industry for the next 20 years.” I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 9
The Week in Short World UK
Obesity Among Children in England Soars During COVID-19 Lockdowns
Police attempt to stop journalists from recording footage outside the Pudong New District People's Court in Shanghai, on Dec. 28, 2020. US-CHINA
US, China Reach Agreement on Easing Visa Restrictions for Journalists The Chinese regime and the United States have agreed to ease visa restrictions for reporters from their respective countries, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said. The agreement was reached after the State Department “pressed” Beijing for months on bilateral issues that had been “longstanding roadblocks” and “longstanding concerns” for the United States, such as media access and visa issues, the spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a statement. Both sides agreed to issue year-long visas to each other’s journalists. China has committed to issuing visas for a “group of U.S. reporters,” and the United States is set to reciprocate by issuing visas to Chinese journalists who are “eligible for the visa under U.S. law.” AMAZON
Amazon to Stop Accepting Payments Using UK-issued Visa Credit Cards From January
10 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
HIV
Second-Ever Person Discovered to Overcome HIV Without Drugs or Medical Treatment An Argentinian woman has become the second person ever recorded in the world to rid herself of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) without drugs or medical treatment, according to researchers. According to a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine titled “A Possible Sterilizing Cure of HIV-1 Infection Without Stem Cell Transplantation,” a now 31-year-old woman who was diagnosed with HIV in 2013 only took antiretroviral therapy for six months during pregnancy to stop the infection from transmitting to her baby. Tests on more than a billion of her cells found no viable trace of the infection, and doctors believe the patient’s immune system may have cleared the virus on its own. Only one other person in the world has been found to have overcome HIV without medical intervention: a 67-year-old woman named Loreen Willenberg from San Francisco.
THIS PAGE FROM TOP: LEO RAMIREZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
Amazon will stop accepting Visa credit cards in the UK starting Jan. 19, 2022, the online retail giant has stated in an email to UK customers, citing high Visa fee charges. “Starting 19 January, 2022, we will unfortunately no longer accept Visa Amazon’s decision only applies to credit cards issued in the UK due to Visa credit cards. the high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions,” the email read, as per the BBC. Visa credit cards issued outside of the UK will still be accepted. “You can still use debit cards (including Visa debit cards) and non-Visa credit cards like Mastercard, Amex, and Eurocard to make purchases,” Amazon stated in its email to some customers. Amazon also asked its customers to update payment methods, including for Prime membership and any subscriptions. “We know this may be inconvenient, and we’re here to help you through this transition.”
Obesity rates in primary school children in England have seen significant increases during the COVID-19 lockdowns, according to newly released statistics. The National Child Measurement Programme measures obesity prevalence among schoolaged pupils in reception class (kindergarten) and year 6. The new data show that obesity rates increased in both year groups by around 4.5 percentage points between 2019–20 and 2020–21, the highest increase since the program began. Among children in reception classes—aged 4 and 5—the obesity rates rose from 9.9 percent in 2019–20 to 14.4 percent in 2020–21. Among pupils in their last year of primary school—aged 10 and 11—obesity prevalence increased from 21 percent in 2019–20 to 25.5 percent in 2020–21.
World in Photos
Migrants gather on the Belarus–Poland border on Nov. 15. In recent weeks, thousands of migrants have tried to cross the frontier into Poland. Belarusian authorities cleared the main camps where migrants had been huddled at the border, on Nov. 18. OKSANA MANCHUK/BELTA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Horsemen at the 2021 Sicab, the International Horse Fair of Spain, in Seville on Nov. 16. The show is dedicated exclusively to purebred Spanish horses. JORGE GUERRERO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Thick smoke rises from a burning tank at a refinery complex of Indonesian state-owned oil company Pertamina, in Cilacap, Indonesia, on Nov. 14. DIDA NUSWANTARA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
People dressed as cartoon superheroes entertain a child diagnosed with cancer at the children's hospital in Pristina, Kosovo, on Nov. 17. ARMEND NIMANI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 11
In Focus Coal Crisis
A Chinese resident looks out the window of her house next to a coal-fired power plant in Shanxi Province, China, on Nov. 26, 2015. As winter approaches amidst worldwide energy woes, coal shortages are becoming a global crisis. PHOTO BY KEVIN FRAYER/GETTY IMAGES
COAL E N E R GY
INCREASING DEMAND, SHRINKING SUPPLY Working people may suffer from shortfall
✒ By Nathan Worcester
12 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
In Focus Coal Crisis
FROM TOP: JUSTIN MERRIMAN/GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK
News Analysis s COP26 drew to a close, the great and the good who converged on Glasgow, Scotland, appeared relatively united in rhetoric, if not in enforceable commitments. Their views have been clear. For the world to slow human-caused global warming, fossil fuels— particularly coal—must largely, and quickly, be abandoned. The latest draft of the COP26 decision text “calls upon Parties ... to accelerat[e] the phaseout of unabated coal and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels.” By the time the Glasgow Climate Pact was approved, the leaders of more than 40 countries, along with the governors of Hawaii and Oregon, had already signed the “Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement,” which commits parties “to rapidly scale up technologies and policies in this decade to achieve a transition away from unabated coal power generation in the 2030s (or as soon as possible thereafter) for major economies and in the 2040s (or as soon as possible thereafter) globally.” Although the United States hasn't signed that statement, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told Bloomberg on Nov. 9 that the United States “won’t have coal” by 2030. In his remarks to COP26, Chinese leader Xi
Coal miners wait at the Harvey Mine in Sycamore, Pa., on April 13, 2017. Multiple U.S. coal producers have reportedly sold out of coal through the next year.
88% CAOLPRIES
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Jinping, praised by Kerry for pledging to cease funding coal projects outside China, touted the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) recent directives on peaking carbon emissions, which vowed that “coal consumption will be reduced at an accelerated pace” as part of the country’s 14th and 15th Five-Year Plans. It isn't clear if anyone has asked Little Amal, the gigantic puppet of a Syrian refugee who took to the stage in Glasgow to deliver seeds signifying the future climate work to be done, what she thinks about Old King Coal. But with influential friends such as The New York Times and Bill McKibben’s 350.org, it’s hard to imagine Amal being made to show anything like approval. For self-appointed climate changers, coal is an easy target. It produces more carbon dioxide emissions than natural gas, diesel, gasoline, or propane. Additionally, although smokestack scrubbers can remove much of the sulfur dioxide and other pollutants in coal plant exhaust, such technologies aren't used everywhere. Coal mining also produces methane, another greenhouse gas, and can harm rivers, mountaintops, and other ecosystems. The problems with coal and other fossil fuels are even easier to emphasize when the environmental harms of solar, wind, and other renewables are minimized or ignored. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 13
In Focus Coal Crisis
Yet as winter approaches amid worldwide energy woes, one-sided rhetoric on coal is giving way to cold, hard reality. A crisis of not enough coal being available to meet the world's needs may be in the offing.
Coal in Short Supply
14 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
Europe, too, has been affected, as coal prices there have also increased. Higher energy prices are expected to make basics such as gas and electricity unaffordable for more European households this winter, prompting the European Union (EU) to ask its members to subsidize relief funding for consumers. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blamed rising prices on the EU Commission’s “Green Deal,” according to The Associated Press. Meanwhile, Switzerland has cautioned its industries that they may be forced to cut energy use in the coming winter due to the risk of blackouts. Last-minute revisions to the COP26 decision text also seem to reflect the political calculations related to coal. While the first draft called upon parties to “accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels,” the latest draft, as of press time, speaks instead of “unabated coal” and “inefficient subsidies.” Though a coal-free future may match the long-range ambitions of many COP26 attendees, present shortages of the commodity seem to be touching off and magnifying an energy crisis felt around the world. If a coal crisis is coming, what exactly is causing it?
Natural Gas, Renewables, and Ripple Effects One driver is rising natural gas prices. Henry Hub natural gas spot prices have reached highs not seen since 2014, with gas futures surging as well. In an October report on those sky-high prices, Anne-Sophie Corbeau, an energy researcher at Columbia University, argued that unexpectedly strong natural gas demand in Asia and Latin America and declining production in the United States and other countries have all helped deplete
Workers load coal onto a truck at a coal depot near Lad Rymbai, in the district of Jaintia Hills, India, in this file photo. The victims of the coming coal crisis may remain invisible in much of the media: the unemployed American miner, the French retiree, the rural Indian farmer, and many more.
“If you’re a single mom working on a farm or working at Walmart, the price of energy massively impacts your life.” Chris Wright, executive, Liberty Oilfield Services
FROM LEFT: DANIEL BEREHULAK/GETTY IMAGES, IAN WALDIE/GETTY IMAGES
Multiple U.S. coal producers have reportedly sold out of coal through the next year, with some reporting they have sold out or nearly sold out through 2023. Additionally, statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that U.S. coal stockpiles have rapidly dwindled, falling to just under 49 million tons in August from roughly 100 million tons in November 2009. Coal prices have risen dramatically in recent months, swinging to a high of almost $270 per ton before falling to about $150 per ton in recent weeks—still 88 percent higher than at the beginning of 2021, according to reporting by the website Trading Economics on international benchmark prices. On Nov. 15, Bloomberg reported that U.S. coal prices have reached highs last seen in 2009. In India, rolling power cuts have been blamed on coal shortages. Perhaps unsurprisingly, India has moved to increase its coal stocks, raising skepticism about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge to COP26 delegates that India would move toward non-fossil fuel energies to hit net zero by 2070. Out of the almost 200 coal plants currently being built in Asia, 28 are in India. One unidentified senior official with India’s Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corp. told Reuters, “You can have the cake of coal and the icing of solar”—a reflection, perhaps, of widespread yet unspeakable thinking among many energy bureaucrats, particularly in the developing world. China also has dealt with power shortages that are tied to its coal supply, although in its case, the proximate causes may also include Beijing’s decision to ban coal from Australia over the country’s push to investigate the origins of COVID-19 and the CCP virus. Scrutinized carefully, a joint declaration from the United States and China on Nov. 10 is as politically delicate as one might expect. It reads, in part, “China will phase down coal consumption during the 15th Five-Year Plan and make best efforts to accelerate this work.” The language seems markedly softer than the CCP’s directive that “coal consumption will be reduced at an accelerated pace,” perhaps leaving China the wiggle room it needs to keep building coal plants at home, while signaling its green bona fides to the West.
In Focus Coal Crisis
natural gas stocks in Europe. Corbeau and other analysts have noted that there has been a switch from natural gas to coal around the world. Yet coal shortages and the decommissioning of coal-fired plants in Europe have constrained the extent of such switching. The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also moved to develop new rules limiting carbon emissions from coalfired plants. In recent weeks, the EPA has signaled its intentions to continue that rulemaking, despite the potential for the Supreme Court to overturn its authority in this area after agreeing to hear West Virginia v. EPA, a challenge to a D.C. Circuit Court decision striking down a Trump-era power rule. Although coal-fired electricity generation is projected to increase in the United States this year, that rise comes on the heels of several years of steady decline in coal-fired electricity generation since 2014, according to EIA statistics. Further, and as noted previously, U.S. coal reserves have been roughly halved in the past dozen years. Lackluster results from some renewables have also influenced the demand for coal. Coal power dominated wind power on the German grid in 2021, with turbines underperforming in a pattern blamed on low wind speeds. The problems with wind power could go beyond recent temporary weather patterns. A recent study of wind turbines in the United States
A coal train awaits loading at BHP Billiton's Mt. Arthur coal mine in Muswellbrook, Australia. Some experts say that political disputes are the root cause of current coal shortages, such as China's power shortages being tied to its decision to ban coal from Australia.
49
MILLION TONS U.S. coal stockpiles have fallen from roughly 100 million tons in November 2009 to just under 49 million tons in August 2021.
shows that performance fell after 10 years, which is the point at which turbines lose eligibility for production tax credits. Researchers have also found that solar power assets are significantly underperforming. A report from the solar risk assessment firm kWh Analytics concluded “project underperformance continues to worsen” in solar, citing “higher-than-expected degradation, terrain mis-modeling, and bankrupt manufacturers” as chief causes of the trend. Some analysts take issue with a focus on renewables. In a statement, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has responded to energy commodity prices by saying it is “inaccurate and misleading to lay the responsibility at the door of the clean energy transition.” Yet that statement cites “lower-than-usual availability of wind energy” as one factor behind the sharp increase in European natural gas prices. Issues with coal, natural gas, and renewables could have a range of other knock-on effects. Among the most serious is a shortage of nitrogen-based fertilizers, which are produced using natural gas. Production cuts or shortages have already occurred in the United States, India, Europe, and other countries, creating the real potential for reduced global crop yields in the coming months or years. The coal shortage in China has reduced exports of other goods produced directly with coal, such as urea, which Indian farmers rely on as a fertilizer. China’s power crisis has also triggered a I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 15
In Focus Coal Crisis
“The whole world is in doubt because [China] reopened quite a number of coal mines due to increasing electricity consumption.” Huang Shicong, financial analyst
magnesium shortage for Europe’s automotive, electronics, and aircraft manufacturing sectors. The continent reportedly imports 95 percent of its magnesium from China. The ripple effects of an energy crisis ultimately extend much further. Since virtually every sector of the global economy depends on energy, costlier energy can be expected to affect virtually every industry and, by extension, consumers. “If you’re an advertising exec or an environmental advocate or a lawyer, your utility bill going up 30 or 40 percent doesn’t impact your lifestyle. If you’re a single mom working on a farm or working at Walmart, the price of energy massively impacts your life,” Chris Wright, an executive with the fracking firm Liberty Oilfield Services, told Insight.
Some commentators assert that national and global political wrangling is at the root of current coal shortages, most notably in the case of China. Chen Weidong, formerly the China Institute of Energy Economics’ chief energy researcher, reportedly told a virtual forum that the country’s coal shortage was “a man-made crisis,” caused by caps on domestic mining that were set with the aim of reaching carbon emissions targets. Tao Guangyuan of the Sino-German Renewable Energy Centre told the same forum that China underproduced coal in early 2021 based on a benchmark from the 2020 pandemic year. He claimed that limits on coal production were already having clear negative effects during early 2021, but that “no one dared to say it.” Taiwanese economist Wu Jialong told Insight that Beijing’s power cuts were part of a quid-pro-quo deal with the United States to decrease carbon emissions in exchange for the release of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the founder of Huawei as well as the company's finance chief. 16 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
A worker moves coal briquettes in Huaibei, Anhui Province, China, in this file photo. Some experts say that political disputes are the root cause of current coal shortages.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, ROUDY DOUMIT/GETTY IMAGES, JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES
Politics and (Coal) Power
As recently as April, S&P Global Platts claimed that China’s capping of coal consumption was “deemed easy to meet” alongside other goals. Months later, faced with domestic power shortages, Chinese buyers were reportedly prepared to purchase coal at “any price,” according to Al Jazeera. “The whole world is in doubt because they reopened quite a number of coal mines due to increasing electricity consumption,” Huang Shicong, a financial analyst, told Insight. “It shows that what they’ve done so far is a total failure.” In other countries, the political reaction against nuclear power, which picked up steam after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, has magnified vulnerability to fossil fuel shortages. Germany, which has rapidly decreased the share of nuclear in its grid since 2011, joined four other EU countries in pushing back against the inclusion of nuclear power as a sustainable power source in the EU’s green taxonomy. Like the United States, Germany has reduced its reliance on coal power and has pledged to close all of its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2038. The country has also rapidly scaled down its natural gas production, despite remaining the EU’s largest natural gas consumer. Germany’s growing reliance on natural gas from Russia has become a geopolitical flashpoint. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will send Russian natural gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea, was completed in September despite opposition from the United States and Ukraine. On Nov. 16, Germany halted the pipeline's certification, spurring an increase in European natural gas prices. Just days ago, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko reportedly threatened to cut off natural gas supplies to the EU after it threatened to sanction Belarus over its allowing migrants to attempt to cross into the EU across Belarus's western border.
In Focus Coal Crisis
Is a Crisis Inevitable? Can a coal crisis be averted? To the extent that a crisis is the result of deliberate policy, pro-coal policies such as India’s may help alleviate it. Policies incentivizing safe, efficient, and less carbon-intensive alternatives to coal, including natural gas and nuclear power, could also go a long way toward powering the world while limiting greenhouse gas emissions. COP26’s softening language on coal suggests that, in the medium or long term, pragmatic accommodation of that fuel may win out, at least in India, China, Russia, and other countries not beholden to 2050 net-zero commitments. In the United States, the outcome of West Virginia v. EPA could significantly affect the viability of domestic coal-fired power plants. While Kerry and other Democrats have signaled their opposition to the fuel, the outsized U.S. coal emissions per capita, centrist Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) influence on energy policy, and the possibility of a Republican takeover of Congress in 2022, all suggest it may be too early to count out coal. Yet, in the short term, businesses and consumers may feel the squeeze as temperatures fall. Corbeau, of Columbia University, noted in her report that there is “no magic switch to increase wind and solar generation on demand.” “It could also be a good time for governments looking to reduce demand to raise citizens’ awareness of measures that can cut electricity and gas consumption,” she later added—words that, intentionally or otherwise, recall the energy crisis-wracked presidency of “The Sweater Man,” Jimmy Carter.
‘A Man-Made Crisis’ The claim that China’s recent blackouts were manmade may leave Westerners feeling a little too comfortable. With 20th-century history as our guide, it’s easy for us to see how central planning and international tensions can combine to yield inefficiencies, shortages, and, at the extremes, avoidable suffering and death. Surely Europe and the United States are too open, too affluent, and too pluralistic to let that happen. Yet Western leaders’ sweeping rhetoric on coal at COP26—exemplified by Kerry’s declaration that the United States will be coal-free by 2030—should leave any such observers uneasy about the West’s resistance to self-inflicted energy austerity. Of course, the rhetoric at COP26 and similar climate summits doesn't always translate into action, especially given the lack of strong enforcement mechanisms under Article 15 of the Paris Agreement.
The Mar Mikhael neighborhood of Beirut during a power outage on Aug. 2. The current shortages of coal are magnifying an energy crisis felt around the world. U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 13. Kerry said that the United States “won’t have coal” by 2030.
But with the United States continuing to close coal mines and decommission coal-fired power plants, Kerry’s claim doesn't seem too far off from the country’s current elite consensus. Top-down green policies, even if well-intentioned, will affect the complex interplay among coal, natural gas, and renewable energy, creating economic and geopolitical ripple effects galore. While some, like a switch to or from natural gas, are predictable, others can barely be foreseen. In today’s media landscape, the term “coal crisis” must be made to evoke a few expected and enduring images: a missing mountaintop in Appalachia; a melting glacier in the Arctic; a young activist; or a literal puppet, castigating the nations of the world for their failure to move fast enough against slowly rising temperatures and an ever-changing climate. The victims of our coming coal crisis may remain invisible in much of the media: the unemployed American miner, no longer able to make a living in the place he calls home; across the Atlantic, the French retiree, turning down his thermostat as he bundles up against the encroaching frost; thousands of miles to the southeast, the rural Indian farmer, unable to feed his family because fertilizer suddenly became too expensive. We ignore them at our peril. ■ I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 17
THE LEAD
FIRST RESPONDERS FIGHT CHICAGO
VACCINE MANDATE ✒ By Cara Ding
18 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
A FIRE CAPTAIN and a policewoman share why they're taking a stand at great personal cost PHOTO BY NATHANIEL SMITH FOR THE EPOCH TIMES
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 19
The Lead Vaccine Mandates
Firefighters salute as a funeral procession passes by, carrying the remains of firefighter Edward Singleton, a 33-year veteran of the Chicago Fire Department, in Chicago on April 22, 2020. Singleton died from complications from COVID-19.
G
OV E R N M E N T C ON T R OL over people’s lives has spread like a fire since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Scott Troogstad, a fire captain
IN AUGUST, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot an-
nounced her vaccination policy for city workers, including about 5,000 fire department employees. It was simple: All city workers were to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15, except for those granted medical or religious exemptions. Troogstad hoped his union would stand up 20 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
Scott Troogstad, fire captain, Chicago Fire Department
and demand that the mayor loosen the policy, perhaps adding a testing option, or an acknowledgement of natural immunity. After all, his union, Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, has a contract with the city that says any change in conditions of employment requires good-faith bargaining. But his union didn’t. In fact, most unions representing Chicago city workers didn’t. The only unions that took a strong stand on the vaccine policy were four law enforcement unions, which represent city police officers, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains. However, their talks with city eventually broke down. ON OCT. 8, Lightfoot handed out her final vac-
cine mandate: all city workers had to report their vaccination status through an online portal by mid-October and be fully vaccinated by end of December, except for those with exemptions.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY OF SCOTT TROOGSTAD, CARA DING/THE EPOCH TIMES
from Chicago. Small-business owners were deprived of their livelihoods, students couldn’t go to schools, faith believers were forbidden to pray at their churches—more than once, Troogstad thought it might just be too late if such controls weren’t stopped. Yet it wasn’t his fight, not at the time. As captain of a firehouse on the Southwest Side of Chicago, Troogstad and his team had to remain on the front line of the pandemic, responding to COVID-19 patients, people overdosed on drugs, and victims of violent crimes. Many firefighters and paramedics at the Chicago Fire Department contracted the virus, beat the illness after days or weeks of symptoms, and returned to the front line. Four died. It didn’t take too long before that fire reached his own station.
“I am very disappointed that my 22-year career dedicated to fire service came to a screeching halt over this.”
The Lead Vaccine Mandates
A failure to comply with either deadline would result in an individual being put on no-pay status and only allowed to return to work after complying with the mandate. Lightfoot also warned that those who remained noncompliant could be fired. Suddenly this became Troogstad’s fight. “If I don’t take the stand right now, I couldn’t look my children in the eye. That’s the way I feel about it—we are at a point where you have to act to preserve the American freedom for our children,” he told Insight. “Finally, we got to a point where the government encroachments started to affect everybody. We got to the point where people are going to rise up. When I say ‘rise up,’ I mean nothing more than simply not comply,” he said. Troogstad didn’t report his vaccination status through the online portal, nor did he submit a vaccination exemption request. Any acts of compliance, no matter how small, gave validity to the policy, he said.
Scott Troogstad sits in his fire engine with his newborn son in 2000, shortly after he was assigned to Engine Company 99 of Chicago Fire Department on the southwest side of Chicago. He became a member of a fighting minority who wouldn’t comply in any way, shape, or form. By mid-October, roughly three out of 10 fire department employees refused to report their vaccination status by the deadline—it was the second-lowest compliance rate among all city departments. His fight came at a personal cost. ON OCT. 20, the department put Troogstad on
no-pay status, which meant he couldn’t work un-
til he complied with the mandate. That meant a monthly paycheck loss of around $8,00o as a fire captain, and a potential loss of his health insurance in the coming weeks. His wife, who still works, has health issues and relies on monthly medication costing $5,000. He also supports two children: a son in college and a daughter in high school. “My wife, I, and my kids are on the same team. I believe the moment we stand in is bigger than anything for us personally,” Troogstad said, almost coming to tears. “It is time for us to start acting like Americans and reclaim our position as the government. I have nothing but faith in God. It will be a bumpy road, but I will be fine.” While it’s a fire he can’t extinguish with a fire engine and a hose, he can fight it with legal tools, he said. ON OCT. 21, a day after he was put on no-pay
status, he filed a federal civil lawsuit along with 113 firefighters and paramedics and 21 city workers against the city of Chicago over the vaccine mandate. The lawsuit stated that when COVID-19 infections were at their worst, firefighters and paramedics fought on the front line to save lives. Many caught the virus, recovered, and gained natural immunity, which several medical experts say is just as effective as the immunity acquired through a vaccine. It says the city failed to give the employees due process before putting them on no-pay status, a violation of city ordinances. Moreover, it alleges the vaccine mandate violates a fundamental constitutional right—the right to privacy, which includes bodily autonomy. It’s the type of lawsuit commonly seen across the country as state and federal judges are asked to reconcile the competing interests of public health and personal freedom during a pandemic. Troogstad’s attorney, Jonathan Lubin, argues that, now that COVID infections are waning, the city’s actions to force a low percentage of unvaccinated essential workers (many of whom have natural immunity already) to get the shots or lose their jobs aren’t directly or rationally related to preserving the life and health of Chicagoans. However, U.S. District Judge John Lee of the District Court for Northern District of Illinois thinks legal precedents suggest that vaccine mandates can stand. The precedents are a 1905 Supreme Court decision backing Massachusetts’s smallpox vaccine mandate, and a recent 7th U.S. Court of Appeals decision that upheld Indiana University’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“If I don’t take the stand right now, I couldn’t look my children in the eye. That’s the way I feel about it—we are at a point where you have to act to preserve the American freedom for our children.” Scott Troogstad, fire captain, Chicago Fire Department
Scott Troogstad sits in his fire engine with his newborn son in 2000, shortly after he was assigned to Engine Company 99 of Chicago Fire Department on the southwest side of Chicago.
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 21
The Lead Vaccine Mandates
“What are the priorities? Me being vaccinated, or me out there and patrolling and protecting the citizens?” Stephanie Mingari, police officer, Chicago Police Department
Lee also said he trusted the city had arrived at its vaccine policy through an informed, scientific, and rational process, according to a Chicago SunTimes article. ON OCT. 29, he declined a request by Troogstad
22 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
24 UNIONS
REPRESENTING different sectors of Chicago workers have filed a lawsuit against the city.
tinue to follow that path wherever it leads me,” Troogstad said.
A Positive Turn On Nov. 10, Troogstad’s union filed a lawsuit against the city, accusing it of a union contract violation and demanding it bargain over the vaccine policy. The lawsuit also asks the court to halt the mandate until the discussions yield fruit. Days earlier, 23 unions representing different sectors of Chicago workers also filed similar lawsuits against the city. Their actions came days after Chicago police unions scored a small victory in court. On Nov. 1, Cook County Judge Raymond Mitchell ruled to stay the city’s vaccination deadline for Chicago police only, until such a time when the city and police unions come to an agreement on vaccine policy. That small victory was won by the police unions, in part, because of police officers such as Stephanie Mingari. Mingari was among the first group of police officers put on no-pay status for not complying with the vaccine mandate. That delivered hard evidence of the city’s violation of a union contract, she said. At first, Mingari didn’t think the city would really do this to her. She asks how police officers who allegedly committed DUI (driving under the influence) and domestic violence are still doing desk work and getting paid, while the city lets officers go home, unpaid, simply because they won’t report their vaccination status. The city can’t make up rules without her union’s consent, she said.
CLOCKWIDE FROM TOP LEFT: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES, SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK
and fellow plaintiffs to temporarily halt the city’s vaccine mandate. In the coming weeks, Lee will consider their request for a preliminary order to stop the mandate, after an examination of more evidence and arguments from both parties. By Nov. 1, hundreds of previously noncompliant CFD employees changed course and reported their vaccination status. A few decided to do so after being placed on no-pay status and have returned to work. But Troogstad is staying the course. “It is a personal stand. It is a moral line in the sand that I would never, ever, allow myself to cross,” he said. He tries to keep up his hope about the lawsuit, while at the same time looking around for jobs. His last paycheck arrived on Nov. 5, and it says $600. His side gig at Northern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy training firefighters helps pay some of the bills. He also received donations from a local nonprofit. But Troogstad needs to look for a job that comes with health benefits to cover his wife’s expensive medication. Any job he could find probably pays half of his fire captain income, he said. “I am very disappointed that my 22-year career dedicated to fire service came to a screeching halt over this. If there’s a legal remedy, I would love to go back to the fire department and continue to serve Chicagoans. “If I lose the fight, it will break my heart. But God has, and will, set me on a path, and I’ll con-
Many firefighters at the Chicago Fire Department contracted the virus, beat the illness after days or weeks of symptoms, and returned to the front line.
The Lead Vaccine Mandates
Also, she thinks there’s another epidemic going on in Chicago—the epidemic of gun violence. In 2021, nearly 4,000 people were shot and 700 were killed, the highest level of violence the city has seen in over a decade. Surely the city would need every police officer on duty to combat the crimes, she said. Though Mingari isn’t a patrol officer, she’s routinely called on by management to leave her police academy office and work the street when needed. Earlier this year, she was detailed to a summer mobile unit for several months to beef up the patrol in violent districts on the South Side. Last year, when the riots broke out, she was working 12 to 14 hours on the street every day for almost two months. So Mingari said she was really hurt when told by her deputy chiefs to hand in her badge and go home on Oct. 18. “You are pulling police officers. What about the thousands of people who have been shot or killed this year? What are the priorities? Me being vaccinated, or me out there and patrolling and protecting the citizens? “I will not comply because they are doing this wrong. This is not about the vaccine. It is about our rights and a lawful order.” BY MID-OCTOBER, Chicago’s police had the
lowest compliance rate of the vaccine mandate among all city departments. It remains so to this day.
Mingari can make her stand because her family still has income and medical insurance from her husband’s job, she said. She feels for coworkers who complied under duress because of financial pressures, and she will fight for them. “I get my morals from my religion, which says you fight for what is right, and you fight for the person who cannot fight for themselves,” she told Insight. “And I’m showing my two sons that you have to fight for what is right. “Other unions see that we are fighting and making progress, they are joining the fight too. Unfortunately, it did take our original group of police officers to go into no-pay status, but we made an impact.” Judge Mitchell wrote in his order: “It is worth remembering that in the darkest days of the pandemic and the months that followed, when I worked remotely in the safety of my home, the men and women of the Chicago Police Department showed up to work. Several died after contracting the virus. “In light of their terrible sacrifice, the police unions’ request just to have their grievances heard seems a pretty modest ask. “‘Obey now, grieve later’—a maxim in labor law—is not possible here. If every union member complied and was vaccinated by December 31, they would have no grievance to pursue and there would be no remedy an arbitrator can award. “An award of back pay or reinstatement cannot undo a vaccine. Nothing can.”
Chicago police outside the department's 7th District station on Aug. 11, 2020. Chicago’s police force has the lowest compliance rate for the vaccine mandate among all city departments.
114 firefighters AND PARAMEDICS
have filed a federal civil lawsuit against Chicago's vaccine mandate.
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 23
S U C O F NI OLD TIMERS A competitor partially deflates the rear tires on a Ford Model A Phaeton vintage car dating from 1928 to improve grip, as he prepares to drive the steep and muddy Borrowdale Old Road track during the 52nd annual Lakeland Trial, near Keswick, England, on Nov. 13. The event, run by the Vintage Sports-Car Club, is an untimed form of motorsport that takes place over several steep, rough, and muddy Lake District hills. PHOTO BY OLI SCARFF/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
24 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 25
Nation Troubled Pastures
AG R IC U LT U R E
Farmers’ Problems Grow as Fertilizer Price Soars Those on the land are turning back to traditional ways, or finding alternative methods to boost land productivity
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26 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
NITED STATES agricul-
tural suppliers are sounding the alarm over the rising cost of fertilizers, which threatens to lower crop yields and worsen strains on global food supplies. “It’s put a stranglehold on us,” said John Ortiz, sales manager at BigYield.us in Garden City, Missouri, an organization focused on creating strategies that increase the size and quality of crops using liquid-nitrogen-based fertilizers. “You’re always going to need seed. You’re always going to need fertilizer” to grow crops on a large scale, Ortiz told Insight. “People need to eat.” Fertilizers have been in short supply in recent months due to the high cost of natural gas, a main component of their production. Prices have nearly tripled in the past year alone, Ortiz said. In 2020, it cost about $48 to treat an acre of top soil with fertilizer. In 2021, it
cost around $120 per acre—an increase of $72, Ortiz said. As a result, farmers are having to consider scaling back on fertilizer applications and seeking alternative methods to energize precious cover soil.
Preparing for Worse Shortages “We’re preparing,” Ortiz said, but if the fertilizer “is not there, it’s not there. If you run out, you run out. How do you get more?” Shipping logistics and the rising cost of transportation have also become an issue of concern, he said. “It’s the trickle-down effect,” Ortiz said, adding that farmers are “very nervous.” “It’s one of these situations we’ve never been in before.” Ortiz said it’s not just the higher price of fertilizer that has farmers worried, but the rising cost of insecticides and herbicides as well. “Instead of spraying the ground,” in many cases, “they’re going back to working the ground,” using traditional or alternative growing methods. “A lot of
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES, ANDREW BURTON/GETTY IMAGES, SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK
U
By Allan Stein
Nation Troubled Pastures
A farmer inspects a grain drill while planting soybeans near Dwight, Ill., on April 23, 2020. As prices of fertilizers increase, farmers are having to seek alternatives.
It’s not just the higher price of fertilizer that has farmers worried, but the rising cost of insecticides and herbicides as well. Hurricane Ida also forced the company to cease production at its ammonia plants in Louisiana. CF Industries didn’t return a request for comment by press time. John Kempf, founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a plant nutrition and bio-stimulants company headquartered in Middlefield, Ohio, said that in some instances, fertilizer supplies are “almost nonexistent.” The “bigger issue,” he said, is that a majority of pesticides and herbicides used in agriculture in the United States are made offshore. They, too, are subject to disruptions and dislocations in the logistical supply chain, he said.
guys are going away from growing [nonGMO] corn to growing soy,” Ortiz said. Switching from dry to liquid fertilizers helps to boost efficiency and crop yields, he said. As the world’s fourth-largest producer of nitrogen-based fertilizers, the U.S. receives 20 percent of its urea and 40 percent of its ammonium nitrate from Russia. China is also a big supplier of these products as the world’s second-largest producer and exporter. Both countries announced recently that they’ll limit exports of nitrogen fertilizers, hoping to contain any further increase in food prices. U.S. farmers are already feeling the squeeze. “That’s what happens when we rely on the outside for our products—it’s crazy,” Ortiz said. CF Industries, a leading U.S. manufacturer and distributor of agricultural fertilizers, recently had to shut down its operations in the United Kingdom amid high natural gas costs and a reported $185 million quarterly net loss in revenues.
Growing Back to Basics As a producer and supplier of biological and mineral nutrition products, Kempf said the company seeks to help farmers reduce their dependence on modern fer-
As China and Russia limit exports of nitrogen fertilizers, U.S. farmers are feeling the squeeze. tilizers and pesticides, improve efficiency, and lower costs. “We believe that farmers have been overusing these products for quite some time,” causing ecological damage, Kempf told Insight. In the long term, Kempf said that moving away from intensive use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture “will force us to become better farmers.” “We know that 60 percent of nitrogen that is used on the corn crops is not absorbed and goes down the river or it gets tied up in the soil,” he said. He said there’s “only one model” that can alleviate the current shortages, which is to become less dependent on artificial synthetic fertilizers and more reliant on “regenerative models” to repair ecological damage caused by the overuse of chemicals. “We have all the [tools] we need today to implement those models,” Kempf said. ■
Workers pick tomatoes at a farm in Immokalee, Fla., on Feb. 19. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 27
T R A NSPORTATION
GEARING UP FOR NEW CAREERS Good pay, independence, and opportunity to see the country are attracting newcomers to professional driving By Allan Stein
distancing. There was freedom to be found in wide-open spaces and winding roads amid stifling lockdowns and theoretical flattening of curves. In 2021, tractor-trailers are still king of the road, despite a growing nationwide shortage of drivers numbering in the tens of thousands. Steven Strong, campus director at Southwest Truck Driver Training (STDT) in Phoenix, says few occupations today offer the romantic allure of long-distance truck driving or the promise of a high-paying job after a brief training period. STDT, which has two campuses in Arizona and one in Nevada, currently boasts hundreds of new students this year who are seeking to earn their commercial driver’s license (CDL) and get straight to work after graduation. Total enrollment at STDT this year ex-
28 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
ceeds 1,400, compared to 1,200 a year ago, Strong told Insight. “We’re definitely seeing a good number of folks wanting their commercial driver’s license. I think what’s fueling the interest is the training is short—four to eight weeks—and the entry level is pretty high,” he said. There are currently more job openings than there are truck drivers, Strong said. Because the average age of a truck driver is 52, retirement counts as a leading factor fueling the worsening shortage of drivers, which numbers close to 100,000, according to the American Trucking Association. In most cases, an STDT student can expect to have a job waiting for him or her following successful completion of the program. Nearly 15 percent of graduates this year are women, Strong said. “Not many drop out. Some [graduates] want to see the country. Some want to drive locally” and enjoy quality time with family, he said. At Roadmaster Drivers School, which is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, President Brad Ball said interest in the four-to-five-
The average age of a truck driver is 52. Retirement is a leading factor fueling the worsening shortage of drivers. week program has never been greater. “Yes, we have seen an increase in folks interested in the program over recent years, especially with all of the supply chain news and carriers offering historic increases in pay and bonuses, improving driver routes,” Ball told Insight. “We do have a waiting list at some of our school locations in the busiest markets, but not at our Phoenix location. Classes start every Monday, but it takes a week or two to get through the enrollment process and become scheduled for a start date,” he said.
Like Driving in a Small Apartment The interest in becoming a CDL-licensed
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, COURTESY OF ROADMASTER DRIVING SCHOOL, COURTESY OF ROADMASTER DRIVING SCHOOL, SHUTTERSTOCK
T
hroughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many considered longhaul truck driving to be the ultimate in social
Supply Chain Truckers Shortage Trucks drive down the Tejon Pass from the Grapevine in Kern County, Calif., on Aug. 26. Amid a nationwide shortage in truck drivers, more people are enrolling in truck-driving courses.
Roadmaster truck driving school offers hands-on training for students seeking to obtain their commercial driver's license.
A Roadmaster Drivers School staff member instructs students at the school's campus in Phoenix.
truck driver is “definitely there,” Ball said. “The opportunity is better than it’s ever been. Many [graduates] have multiple job offers.” Aside from the freedom of the road, truck drivers receive many career benefits, including starting pay that averages up to $50,000 per year. And with truck drivers being in such great demand, job security is almost guaranteed, he said. Drivers in many cases receive generous medical insurance and retirement benefits, paid vacation and sick time, as well as the option of taking their pet with them. “You get to see the country.” Ball said Roadmaster programs average 12 students per week at the Phoenix location. Students also have access to the latest in tractor-trailers and equipment and technology, he said. “Truck driver training is hands-on. You need to see, feel, and touch the trucks,” Ball said. “It’s like driving in a small apartment.” The 2016 Freightliner Cascadia truck, for example, ranks among the largest in its class. The custom sleeper cab comes
with a television, a full kitchen with microwave and refrigerator, shower, bathroom, bed, and storage space. Another big semi-truck is the ARI Legacy and Volvo Big Bunk AT GATR B147. This sleeper cab has all of the bells and whistles of the 2016 Freightliner Cascadia, along with an office desk and table with seats.
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Ball said: “Most of our students are 21 and above. When they graduate, they will already know who they are going to work for.” He said the shortage of drivers is a serious and ongoing problem, and “if nothing changes, we could see [a shortage] of 200,000” drivers going forward. The government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for companies with more than 100 employees is also a “big problem” for the trucking industry, he added. The OSHA mandate is set to go into effect on Jan. 4. “There are lot of [drivers] that will quit
a larger company and go on. I think it is the worst time to be putting in a rule like that,” Ball said. Even so, demand for truck drivers remains “at an all-time high,” said Steven Gold, founder of 160 Driving Academy, the nation’s largest commercial driving school with more than 100 locations nationwide. “Almost everybody is saying, ‘I want a better opportunity and make more money,’” Gold told Insight. Many are now finding opportunity in abundance in long-haul truck driving. But first, they need the training and experience before they can expect to draw $100,000 salaries a year or two after graduation. With 20,000 students enrolled this year, Gold expects that number to nearly triple next year because of the increase in demand for CDL licenses among both men and women, representing many population demographics. Some drivers eventually move on from starting as a company employee to becoming an owner-operator, an expensive prospect, he said. “Very few are going to do that. You need some driving experience before you buy a $150,000 piece of equipment,” Gold said. “It’s an expensive proposition, a sometimes dangerous proposition. We tell everybody to go work for a big company first.” Gold said about 12 percent of the students at 160 Driving Academy—and a quarter of the instructors—are women, who tend to be “more careful drivers.” Cathy Roberson, president of Logistics Trends and Insights in Georgia, said that while the increasing number of graduates of tractor-trailer driving schools is a positive sign, “it’s going to take time for the number of graduates to put a dent” in the national shortage of drivers. “We’ve had this tractor-trailer driver shortage well over 20 years. I don’t think it’s going away. I don’t think we can satisfy demand” any time soon, she told Insight. “I don’t really see them being able to fill the demand [although] every graduate is a plus.” Freedom and money aside, longhaul truck driving is an often hard and lonely job. “It’s not for everybody,” Gold said. ■ I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 29
In Focus Coal Crisis
A homeless man sleeps near Venice Beach in Los Angeles on June 30. The Venice neighborhood has approximately 2,000 people living unhoused, making it the second-largest congregant of homeless people in the city, after Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. PHOTO BY FREDERIC J. BROWN AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
30 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
In Focus Los Angeles
A WORLD ‘GONE MAD’ HOMELES SNES S
The Venice Beach community wrestles with a worsening homeless crisis
SHUTTERSTOCK
By Jamie Joseph
abbot kinney boulevard is a picture-perfect hidden gem in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, known for its boutique shops and locally owned dining joints. The mile-long strip sings to the tune of upper-middle-class patrons who come to Venice Beach to soak in its peculiar rhythm. The neighborhood’s tight-knit community of homeowners who have lived in the area for decades is proud to reside in this unique nook of town. But over the past year, the community within this stretch of Venice grew even closer over a common frustration: the growing homeless encampments. The issue isn’t new to the city of Los Angeles as a whole, which has more than 41,000 people living on its streets, according to the latest homeless count, with more than 66,000 homeless people residing in the county. A forecast by the Economic Roundtable estimates that the number could reach nearly 90,000 by the year 2023.
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Venice has approximately 2,000 people living unhoused, making it the second-largest congregant of homeless people in the city after Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. Drugs, needles, trash, violence, fires, and encampments have become all too common to the Venice community. Representatives for the community say that their pleas for help often fall on deaf ears when it comes to their city leaders, while tourists, homeowners, workers, and other homeless people have become victims to random assaults by a more violent crowd of transients. “It’s a world gone mad,” Venice resident Deborah Keaton told Insight. “It’s our own making, too. I’m a liberal, a Democrat, and we voted for these measures that decriminalize a lot of this behavior, and so there’s no repercussions for these guys.” When Keaton steps outside of her home on North Venice Boulevard between Abbot Kinney Boulevard and Electric Avenue, her reality isn’t the white-picket-fence experience she bought into 30 years ago when she purchased her home. An encampment, including a handful of parked I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 31
In Focus Los Angeles
A deputy (R) from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department speaks to a homeless man sitting in front of his encampment in Venice, Calif., on June 8. The pandemic encouraged transients to move to new residential areas in the city near commercial areas.
Deborah Keaton, resident
32 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
Muhammad’s niece’s wedding. Both were born and raised in Venice and ran in the same circles. “Even though everybody is up in arms about this, these are human beings,” Muhammad told Insight. “Brandon’s a good guy. It’s the drugs that are doing that to him. So, I understand the neighbors’ perspective.” Muhammad has become somewhat of a neighborhood protector, taking matters into his own hands. He runs the HELPER Foundation, a gang intervention coalition serving the Venice and Mar Vista neighborhoods. Venice residents say that they trust him so much that they call him first when there’s a safety or noise issue. The homeless people of the area trust him as well, so he’s able to keep the peace. Most of the vagrants in Venice are involved in some element of gang activity, even if they aren’t officially part of a set, Muhammad said. Drug addiction is also rampant among the homeless, making it more difficult for them to accept resources. “So, for my friend over here, what do I do? I build rapport, I have to wait for him to say ‘Stan, I’m ready,’” he said. Other outreach workers across the county have told Insight the same thing—contact must be repeatedly made before some people accept help. Pat, an unsheltered resident in Venice Beach, told Insight that there should be more solutions by
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: JOHN FREDRICKS/THE EPOCH TIMES, JOHN FREDRICKS/THE EPOCH TIMES, SHUTTERSTOCK
“There’s no repercussions for these guys, and they can’t be held and they know it. A lot of these guys have been arrested 400 times. ”
RVs, has popped up adjacent to her house, making hers the closest house to the neighborhood’s new hot spot for crime and drug dealing. The transients living inside the RVs play loud music all day and night, she said. Keaton filed a police report against Brandon Washington, the apparent ringleader of the RV encampment, because he approached her gate and allegedly made threats against her family. “He rang the bell, and he was wasted, and he said to me: ‘I just need to know all the evil people, is your husband evil? Because I need to kill your husband,’” she said. “It was scary.” Keaton captured the entire interaction on her Ring doorbell camera. “There’s no repercussions for these guys, and they can’t be held and they know it. A lot of these guys have been arrested 400 times,” she said. Neighbors allege that Washington—who often appears to be on drugs—has prostituted women in the RVs, in addition to dealing methamphetamine to other homeless people. Keaton said in the summer a woman was hiding in her backyard because she claimed that Washington was “pimping her out.” These stories have become all too common in Venice. Ansar El Muhammad, who goes by “Brother Stan” in Venice, knows Washington’s plight all too well. About 20 years ago, Washington was in
In Focus Los Angeles
city leaders to encourage special rehab programs that would “give people a sense of accountability.” “There’s got to be a way, a path forward from sleeping on the pavement to eventually having a place. But I think all of the energy to give that path forward should come from the person in that situation,” he said.
Due to a lack of supportive housing, a number of tiny house villages have popped up across the county as a lower-cost alternative.
Neighbors Criticize Local Policies The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Homeless Outreach and Services Team (HOST) conducted a cleanup of the sidewalk surrounding the RVs on Sept. 8 and 9, but Keaton said the department won’t enforce any measures that would force the RVs to move. She fears that the trash will pile up again and attract additional criminal activity. “The LAPD says they can’t enforce it because it comes down from the mayor’s office, but according to the sheriff’s department, the LAPD are not supposed to take orders from the mayor’s office—but that’s the deal,” she said. Venice Neighborhood Council Board Member Soledad Ursua told Insight that the RVs receive citations. But a homeless service provider in the area allegedly pays for the tickets. She said the pandemic also changed the homeless situation by encouraging transients to move to new residential areas in the city near commercial areas.
90,000 IT’S ESTIMATED that the number of homeless people in Los Angeles County will increase to nearly 90,000 by 2023.
“This is different because there’s people who are totally selling drugs. They’re doing drugs, and it’s outside a residence,” Ursua said. “I’ve had to clean up human feces in my carport three times.” During the summer, HOST conducted a massive cleanup and outreach effort on the Venice boardwalk. Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva deployed deputies to the area, while media reports slammed city leaders for not addressing the issue. Encampment fires were at an all-time high: more than 54 percent of all fires in Los Angeles were caused by encampments in 2021, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. The neighborhood experienced a sharp uptick in crime during the summer as well, according to statistics provided to the Venice Neighborhood Council by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Capt. Steve Embrich. Year-to-date numbers show that robberies have nearly tripled since the same period in 2020. Homeless-related robberies were up by 260 percent, homeless-related assaults with a deadly weapon were up by 118 percent, property crimes and area burglaries were up by 85 percent, and grand theft auto was up by 74 percent. “We’ve been inundated with calls, with concerns, with images from the news, from people picking up the phone, emailing, sending us letters, about what’s going on in Venice,” I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 33
In Focus Los Angeles
Villanueva told reporters during a June 23 press conference. “And that is a microcosm of what’s going on throughout the entire county of Los Angeles.” Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin— who was also a local advocate for defunding the LAPD—countered Villanueva’s efforts and asked the Los Angeles Homeless and Poverty Committee to shift $5 million in budgeted aid to fund housing programs in his district. Those funds were sent to the St. Joseph Center in Venice to conduct outreach on the boardwalk. However, some tents have started popping back up on the boardwalk, with residents saying many homeless individuals have just been moved around. An unhoused member of the Venice community, Butch Say, believes that most homeless people in Venice don’t want help. Say, who described himself as a traveling nomad, told Insight during the boardwalk cleanup that most of them prefer to live on the street. “They go, ‘No, I love it out here. Nobody tells me what to do, and I run around in my underwear,’” he said. “You know, whatever. They’re crazy. What can I say? It’s Venice.”
Not a ‘Housing’ Problem While Los Angeles was dealing with a homeless crisis prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, city restrictions may have exacerbated the problem. The curfew on tents in public was rolled back, and sanitation crews were cut to mitigate the spread of the virus. Other city codes were suspended as well. As a result, many homeless people—mostly addicts—flocked to the beach. In a previous interview with Insight, local bar owner Luis Perez said Venice has always had a quirky community of homeless individuals, but they were largely artists and entertainers. They weren’t addicts. He also said he saw homeless individuals being bussed in and dropped off on the boardwalk. As state and city leaders peddle the statesanctioned “housing first” model, which suggests that the solution to homelessness lies within building more affordable housing units, Venice Beach natives have a different perspective. “A lot of them don’t want housing. See, this is the issue: They put all this money in here for housing, but there’s less than 5 percent of this population across the city that want it. They say ‘to hell with housing,’” Muhammad said. “You know why? Because they’re addicts.” On Nov. 10, California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. During a press conference during the visit, Newsom told reporters that $22 34 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
billion is being invested to address “the issue of affordability, housing, and homelessness, to support these efforts all across the state of California.” “Yes, I see what you see. Yes, I’m mindful of what is happening, but I’m also more optimistic than I’ve ever been. We are seeing progress,” he said. But residents say that the problem seems to be getting worse. “I voted for Proposition HHH. I [would] be the first one to say I want a solution. And honestly, I would probably vote for another one if I thought the money was going to be correctly spent,” Venice Neighborhood Council Board member Robert Thibodeau said. “But the thing is, where’s the light on the ground solutions? Where’s the FEMA style response, the striking sort of immediate solutions that you would have with [Hurricane] Katrina. Because to me, this is Katrina.” Local business owners have been speaking out as well. Klaus Moeller, co-owner of Ben & Jerry’s on the boardwalk, told Insight in an email during the summer that “this is not a local homeless problem.” “This is a problem about out-of-state transients and drug dealers/users moving in because they can act without repercussions,” Moeller said. he noted that his employees have been attacked by transients on the boardwalk. Residents have also criticized Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion bond approved in 2016 by Los Angeles voters to build 10,000 supportive housing units. As of February, the city controller discovered that only 489 of the bond-funded units were ready for occupancy. Because of the lack of supportive housing, a number of tiny house villages have popped up across the county as a lower-cost alternative for interim housing. However, some residents say they won’t make much of a difference. “They wouldn’t move indoors. It’s not a housing crisis—it’s an addiction crisis,” Los Angeles native and new Venice resident Kate Linden told Insight. Linden said she emails Lt. Geff Deedrick—who leads the HOST efforts—weekly, letting him know what’s going on. But the HOST team can only come in when they’re given orders to do so. “The HOST team provides that guardian
“We’ve been inundated with calls, with concerns, with images from the news, from people picking up the phone, emailing, sending us letters, about what’s going on in Venice. ... And that is a microcosm of what’s going on throughout the entire county of Los Angeles.” Alex Villanueva, Los Angeles County sheriff
Los Angeles Councilmember Mike Bonin speaks in Venice, Calif., on May 22, 2016. Many Venice locals who had originally voted for Bonin blame him for the lack of law enforcement that they say has allowed gang activity into the neighborhood.
In Focus Los Angeles
“There’s got to be a way, a path forward from sleeping on the pavement to eventually having a place. But I think all of the energy to give that path forward should come from the person in that situation.” Pat, homeless man
The transients living inside the RVs play loud music all day and night.
mentality, so you can have a safe space for those discussions, but that’s where the policymakers and executives and those things, we leave that to them,” Deedrick told Insight. “We deploy at the direction of the sheriff.”
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: JASON KEMPIN/GETTY IMAGES FOR VENICE FAMILY CLINIC, JOHN FREDRICKS/THE EPOCH TIMES, JOHN FREDRICKS/THE EPOCH TIMES
Residents Launch Recall Campaign
Due to Venice's catchand-release policy, homeless people who commit crimes are often put back on the streets within hours if they refuse services.
Many Venice neighbors who had originally voted for Bonin to represent them in the 11th district, such as Keaton, are pulling back their support. Earlier in 2021, a recall campaign was launched. On Nov. 10, petitioners collected enough signatures to move forward in the recall election process. The petitioners blame Bonin for the increased homelessness and the lack of enforcement on street camping that they say brings gang activity into the neighborhood. On Oct. 22, the Los Angeles City Council voted to ban encampments in 54 specified areas, with Bonin and Councilmember Nithya Raman serving as the only two dissenting votes. Thibodeau, who identifies as a centrist, said Bonin’s views are on the “radical fringe” that aligns with special interest groups and far-left activists. He’s sent dozens of emails to Bonin’s office with no response. “The sad thing is a lot of this has happened because of a higher level of tolerance in the community and a compassion in the community—we’ve been abused because we’re compassionate people,” Thibodeau told Insight. “He will not enforce [camping restrictions] in his district. So, now what? He’s in charge of policing too?” During an October city council meeting, Bonin voted to not enforce a ban on camping due to a lack of prior street engagement to notify the homeless. But according to city documents, the
cost of signage and outreach would cost as much as $2 million. “There was an agreement about street engagements, and I think we need to live by that part as well,” Bonin said. “I am certain that a lot of work has been done, but it still isn’t to the level of what we committed to as a body. And I’m concerned about us losing the commitment to the street engagement strategy and not making sure that it is adequately resourced.” Adding to the frustrations of residents, the LAPD has its hands tied due to the city’s catchand-release policy. Homeless people who commit crimes are often put back on the streets within hours if they refuse services. Thibodeau said he believes that Bonin is transforming Venice into a “containment zone” by not enforcing any anti-camping ordinances. Meanwhile, Bonin is planning several large supportive housing developments in Venice Beach and Mar Vista. Bonin and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti have also championed A Bridge Housing supportive units in Venice for $8 million that came out of Prop. HHH funds. Residents say most of the homeless who reside in the shelter are “dual residents,” meaning that they have a bed in the shelter as well as a tent on the street. “There are no new planned facilities in Pacific Palisades. Brentwood happens to have the VA, but nowhere else in Brentwood. ... So, we’re making a Containment Zone here like Skid Row,” Bonin said. As far as the sidewalk on North Venice Boulevard being taken over by RVs and tents, Thibodeau said that “living next to this stuff is very draining.” He said he’s thinking about organizing street protests to address the issue. Councilmember Bonin’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time. ■ I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 35
Indian Congress party workers protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi allegedly using the Pegasus spyware for unauthorized surveillance operations, in New Delhi on July 20. PHOTO BY PRAKASH SINGH AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Privacy Unauthorized Surveillance
IN DI A
SUPREME COURT
INQUIRY BEGINS Cybersecurity experts probing who gave the nod to spy on opponents
I
Pegasus is a powerful piece of spyware that secretly unlocks mobile phones and allows access to everything on them.
FROM TOP: JOEL SAGET/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK
By Anil Sharma
“It is a weapon, so our first question was who authorized Pegasus?
n d i a’ s s u p r e m e c o u r t d e c i s i o n to investigate the allegations of “unlawful” and “unauthorized” surveillance of its citizens using Israeli spyware has Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government under fire. According to the court order, it’s alleged that the Pegasus spyware—created by Israeli technology firm NSO Group—was used to hack hundreds of phones in India, including those owned by ministers, opposition leaders, journalists, activists, and Supreme Court judges, among others. Pegasus is a powerful piece of spyware that se cretly unlocks mobile phones and allows access to everything on them, including cameras and micro- Rahul Gandhi, party leader, Indian phones, the court order states. According to NSO, its National Congress technology is sold solely “to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of vetted governments for the sole purpose of saving lives through preventing crime and terror acts.” In a late-October ruling, the Supreme Court of India has ordered the establishment of a three-member technical committee to investigate whether the government used the software to spy on opponents. The members of the committee are experts in cyber security, digital forensics, networks, and hardware. They’ll be overseen by Justice R.V. Raveendran, a former judge of the court. The committee’s findings will be heard by the court after eight weeks. The Supreme Court’s move comes at a time when POPULARITY DROP the Modi government has already been battling to Since Prime improve its sagging popularity after the second Minister Narendra wave of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus Modi assumed hit the country between April and June. Modi’s popoffice, his popularity ularity has dropped from 66 percent to 24 percent has dropped from in one year, according to findings by India Today’s 66 percent to 24 percent in one year. “Mood of the Nation” survey released in August. Many in India feel that the Pegasus spyware in-
24%
fringes on privacy and freedom of speech, which is a constitutional right. The court’s ruling has also given ammunition to opposition parties to attack the Modi government, which hasn’t yet provided meaningful replies to questions raised by opposition leaders. The Indian National Congress party’s leader, Rahul Gandhi, has been very vocal in demanding a probe into the spyware’s use in India. “As we all know, Pegasus cannot be bought by a private individual. It has to be bought by a government; it is a weapon, so our first question was who authorized Pegasus?” Gandhi said during a recent press conference. The leader of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Subramanian Swamy, raised similar questions in a July Twitter post. “It is quite clear that Pegasus Spyware is a commercial company which works on paid contracts. So the inevitable question arises on who paid them for the Indian ‘operation’?” he wrote. “If it is not the government of India, then who? “It is the Modi government’s duty to tell the people of India.” In prior statements, NSO has stated that it doesn’t operate Pegasus and that the software isn’t a mass surveillance tool. “NSO will thoroughly investigate any credible proof of misuse of its technologies, as we always had, and will shut down the system where necessary,” the company stated. Thus far, the Indian government appears to have been more or less silent—or has tried to divert attention from the issue. The ruling BJP has been counterattacking opposition parties by asking them to file police complaints and get their phones checked. On Nov. 9, AP reported that Mexican prosecutors had arrested a businessman on allegations that he had used the Pegasus program to spy on a journalist. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 37
38 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
S U C O F NI CHRISTMAS MARKET The main Christmas market, Christmas in Winterland, near the Norwegian Parliament Stortinget (top C) in the center of Oslo on Nov. 16. The market opened on Nov. 13 and will run through Jan. 2, 2022. PHOTO BY HEIKO JUNGE/NTB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 39
China Lockdowns
PA N DE M IC R E S P ON S E
TRAPPED IN A ‘DEAD’ CITY By Eva Fu
H
40 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
CHINE S E CITIZENS recall the financial and mental toll from living under Beijing's harsh ‘zero-COVID’ policies.
arguably some of the harshest pandemic policies yet seen. Ruili has locked down its population of 280,000 people four times in the past year. With a total time under lockdown at more than 200 days and counting, the city has been brought to near paralysis. Much of normal daily life has been paused as the city’s officials struggle to stamp out every infection, a policy that Beijing has insisted upon, even as much of the world has moved on to less restrictive containment measures. During Halloween, around 34,000 visitors found themselves locked in Shanghai Disneyland until midnight to be checked for COVID-19, because of one positive case. Wuhan, Beijing, and Shanghai have called off marathons as the country battles the contagious Delta variant. Zhuanghe, a county in northeastern China, set all traffic lights to red on Nov. 4 to bar traffic over one reported infection, and a sudden lockdown in Inner Mongolia stranded nearly 10,000 tourists in a city with only 35,000 residents following the detection of local infections. In Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, police in early November sent a text message to 82,000 residents warning them not to leave their homes. These people were designated as “companions in space and time,” a new term coined by authorities describing those who have stayed for more than 10 minutes in the same area as a
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: SHUTTERSTOCK, STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK
e may be short in years, but not so with his COVID-19 testing record. At not quite 2 years of age, the boy was born at a time of great upheaval—in January 2020 at the start of the pandemic, just days after Beijing instituted lockdown policies following a weeks-long delay in admitting the severity of the outbreak. Ever since around 3 months old, the toddler has been subjected to repeated virus testing. As of October, he has been through 74—once every three days in recent months—even when he spends most of his time at home and has little contact with the outside world. The procedure has been frequent enough that he no longer cries at the sight of a medical worker, but readily opens his mouth, although the throat swab apparently makes him nauseated. The toddler became a media sensation in the country after his father, a jade merchant from the southern border city of Ruili, China, posted a short clip of the child on the internet. Netizens adored him and joked about his meme-worthy look of resignation, with some commenting sympathetically that he probably sees more of the medical staff than he sees of his own friends. Lighthearted as it may sound, the reality in his hometown is anything but. Located in the southwestern corner of China, the remote town of Ruili, a gateway to Burma (Myanmar) famed for its jade and emeralds, has
COVID-19 positive case, or 30 hours cumulatively over a two-week period. Amid all the zeal from authorities, the virus has stubbornly lingered. The latest round of outbreaks since Oct. 17 has so far been linked to 1,000 cases across 20 provinces, the largest number reported from China this year. While the country’s infection tally so far looks to be miraculously low compared to the rest of the world, residents and experts have questioned Beijing’s official figures, citing the regime’s coverup of the initial outbreak and others across the country, as well as the practice of downplaying bad news to preserve its image. Zhong Nanshan, China’s top epidemiologist, concedes that the zero-COVID policy comes with a high cost, but insists that opening up would cost more.
The ‘City Is Dead’ Perhaps nowhere are the strains felt more keenly than in Ruili. Movie theaters, gyms, jewelry stores, and bar-
A man receives a COVID-19 nucleic acid test in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Aug. 5.
3
YEARS OLD CHINA HAS
launched a nationwide campaign to vaccinate children as young as 3.
bershops have been shuttered, one after another, while locals, many turned out of work, found themselves barred from leaving the city. Conducting sales through livestreaming and the delivery of jade are on hold—measures that officials have said are necessary to restrict the flow of goods to tame the outbreak. Ren Hua (a pseudonym), a jade trader and father, told state media The Paper that he has recorded a loss of more than 100,000 yuan (roughly $15,700) since the start of the pandemic, and probably has just enough to hang on for a few more months. He’s hardly alone. Like Ren and many other locals, He Xiuli (a pseudonym), a tutor, has been living on her savings for more than half a year while paying her mortgage. Her tutoring school also has become a casualty of Beijing’s crackdown on the education sector, and likely won’t come back even after the outbreak is over. In March, local officials ordered a blanket ban on grocery stores, wholesale markets, and even street stands; they weren’t allowed to reopen I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 41
China Lockdowns
Among many, there’s a growing feeling that they are being trapped, without knowing when—or if—their ordeals will ever come to an end. The city of Ruili in Yunnan Province, China, on July 5. A lockdown lasting more than 200 days has brought Ruili to near paralysis. Security personnel guard the entrance of a residential area following the confirmation of COVID-19 cases in Zhangye, Gansu Province, China, on Oct. 23. until recently. As a result, black markets for vegetables have flourished. Farmers set up vendor stands during the wee hours of the night to sell their greens, and vanish before dawn, when local urban management officers would get to work and shoo them away. When He gets to venture out during the day, there is little to see or do. Most retail stores she sees have gone dark. Every other street, there are houses sealed by mesh nets to keep people away. “The entire city is dead,” she said. “You don’t see anyone.”
Trapped
Mental Toll
42 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
“We are pretty much like waiting for death. ” Cheng Hao (alias), barbarshop owner in Ruili
“The entire city is dead. You don’t see anyone.” He Xiuli (alias), a tutor in Ruili
On Oct. 26, a man surnamed Jin jumped off the fourth floor of a Ruili hotel. Officials later said the man committed suicide over problems at work, although on Chinese social media and offline, many appeared unconvinced. “It’s laughable,” said He. “We don’t even have work, how would there be work-related problems?” Among many, there’s a growing feeling that they are being trapped, without knowing when— or if—their ordeals will ever come to an end. Cheng Hao (a pseudonym), a barbershop owner who now gets one-third of the customers he had during pre-pandemic times, believes the government doesn’t have an answer either. The city, he noted, has twice changed top officials after they failed to keep infection numbers down. “We are pretty much like waiting for death,” he told Insight. Leaving Ruili is also no easy feat. When the city reopened for a week in July, He wanted to go to the provincial capital Yunnan to find some work. She did two sets of throat and nasal swab tests (since officials declared the first set invalid for being one day too late). Despite petitioning multiple government departments, she couldn’t win the approval of officials to leave Ruili. In each neighborhood compound, only two applicants were allowed to leave Ruili each day,
THIS PAGE FROM TOP: STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES; RIGHT PAGE: GETTY IMAGES
He’s boyfriend lives in a separate village. With no place to work and having nothing else to do at home, he has been playing video games to kill time. He’s sister is a middle-school teacher who lives in a neighboring county. Due to the school’s COVID-19 policies, she has had to live on campus since her students returned to school in August, even though her home is just a 20-minute drive and her child is not yet 2 years old. With her husband quarantined in the frontier town in Ruili, the child is left entirely to a grandmother’s charge and, to her mother’s dismay, seems to be forgetting her. When He’s sister had a video chat with her child, the child paid little heed to her, instead toddling after the grandmother and calling her “mama.” “She has been having a breakdown every few days, saying she’d better quit and go home,” He said of her sister. The government has offered little to allevi-
ate their pain, the residents said. For He, assistance from the state so far consists of a roughly 11-pound bag of rice, two buckets of cooking oil, a dozen eggs, and two packs of noodles. Ren, the jade seller, only got a pack of masks and a bottle of disinfectant. He’s boyfriend has gotten 1,000 yuan, the equivalent of about $157. “Going through days and nights by yourself in the house—it’s a form of torment,” Lin Quan, who runs a jewelry business in Ruili and has a daughter at a university, told Insight. “If I’m in jail, at least I know which day I can leave, right? And I don’t need to worry about finances,” he said. While in quarantine, ”you have to worry about everything—the elderly, your child, food, auto loans, home mortgage. ... You’re not earning a penny, while being locked up in your room.”
China Lockdowns
according to He and another Ruili resident. “You could apply endlessly and still get told that there are hundreds of people queued up ahead of you,” He told Insight. So she abandoned the effort. “I thought it would get better if I waited a little longer,” she recalled thinking at the time. More than three months later, she’s still stuck in Ruili. The city registered 49 cases from Oct. 1 to Nov. 13—a drop in the ocean compared to anywhere else in the world. But in China, such figures are intolerable. The city’s predicament led Dai Rongli, who had been the city’s deputy major until 2018, to issue a plea on his personal blog last month, a bold move given that Chinese officials are usually careful never to contravene the Party line. In a candid essay titled “Ruili Needs Motherland’s Care,” Dai pressed authorities to restart manufacturing and trade and bring in mental health counselors. “Each lockdown leads to another grave emotional and material loss; each battle against the virus adds another layer of grievance,” he wrote. Dai’s essay went viral and brought Ruili to the national limelight. The current city mayor, Shang Labian, quickly dismissed it as Dai’s personal views, telling state media that “for the time being, Ruili doesn’t need” outside assistance. The current vice mayor, Yang Mou, also defended the strict regulations as necessary. “As long as Ruili hasn’t reduced the case numbers to zero, there’s a risk it could spread outside,” he told reporters on Oct. 29 in an apparent response to Dai’s essay. But the pressure has kept growing. In early November, hundreds from Tunhong and Hemen, two villages in Ruili, gathered at village entrances asking to be let out. “We need to live,” Ms. Li, who took part in the Tunhong protest, told Insight.
‘Self Deception’ With less than 100 days to go to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the regime has shown no signs of easing its zero-tolerance policy anytime soon. A nationwide campaign is underway to vaccinate children as young as 3. A new travel curb from Beijing on Nov. 13 bars entry to anyone if their county discovered a single infection case over a two-week period. The capital has lately prosecuted 19 for allegedly “posing hurdles and harm to outbreak prevention,” a criminal offense in China that’s punishable with seven years in prison. The uncertainties of the outbreak have fanned panic buying in major Chinese metropolises, creating spectacles such as customers jostling for scarce products, hours-long checkouts, and
shopping carts loaded with pig carcasses, videos circulating on social media in recent weeks show. “It’s the commoners who are bearing the burden,” said Feng Chongyi, a professor on China studies at the University of Technology in Sydney. The officials will want to eliminate the infections down “at all costs” for the sake of themselves, told Insight. “Any region where the virus breaks out, the local officials are at risk of losing their jobs,” he said. Even some Chinese experts have lately conceded that the regime’s approach to the outbreak might be impractical. Guan Yi, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, recently told Chinese media ifeng that “we probably lost our chance to reach the goal of getting to zero COVID.” “Like the influenza A virus, whether people are happy or not, it will remain endemic among us for a long time,” he said in mid-October. The original interview has since been taken down. As the country heads into its third year with the pandemic, some residents appear resigned to the ever-tightening control exercised by the one-party state. “The so-called zero-COVID policy is basically self-deception,” Mr. Lin from the east-central city Zhengzhou told Insight. “During Zhengzhou’s August outbreak, the city committee secretary vowed to bring virus cases to zero by the end of the month ... but even after they declared the city virus-free, the regulations remain as restrictive as before.” Lin Yun, from the southern city Guangzhou, thinks the same. “Whether or not they have achieved zero-COVID is up to the government,” he told Insight. ■
Security guards check residents’ temperatures in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, June 14, 2020. Some Chinese experts have lately conceded that the regime’s approach to the outbreak might be impractical.
Gu Xiaohua and Luo Ya contributed to this report. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 43
P OL I T IC S • E C ONOM Y • OPI N ION T H AT M AT T E R S
Perspectives
Issue. 06
South Figueroa Street and the I-110 freeway in Los Angeles on April 6, 2020. PHOTO BY MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES
US Government Creates More Pressures Amid Recovery Americans will end up reimbursing the money that the Biden administration is spending lavishly under its infrastructure plan. 48 44 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
PENNILESS CIA IS WEAK ON THE CCP 45
✒
DOLLARS FLOW TO GENOCIDE 47
LABOR NEEDS AND IMMIGRATION 46
COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS 50
Anders Corr
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.
Penniless CIA Is Weak on the CCP The CIA’s China ops have failed since at least 2010
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he cia lags on china intelligence by at least a decade. Only in August did it moot the idea of a “China Mission Center,” which it finally announced on Oct. 7. The center will reportedly make it easier to leverage agency resources to address the growing China threat, and intelligence failures of the last decade on all things Beijing, China, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). But without significantly more resources, the new center will be yet another agency fail. According to a Nov. 10 Bloomberg report, “A lack of top-tier intelligence on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s inner circle is frustrating senior Biden administration officials struggling to get ahead of Beijing’s next steps, according to current and former officials who have reviewed the most sensitive U.S. intelligence reports.” The officials say American intelligence finds it increasingly difficult to penetrate Xi’s opaque decision-making and ever-more centralized control of the CCP. The agency or other officials were surprised, according to Bloomberg, the Telegraph, and the Financial Times, about China’s hypersonic missile test that was reported on Oct. 16, as well as the breaking of the Hong Kong treaty with Britain, the projection of military power over the South China Sea, the limits placed on independent investigation into the COVID-19 origin, the cancellation of Chinese IPOs, and the increase in Chinese hacking. From 2010 to 2012, Beijing found and killed at least 12 CIA sources in China, through a mole or hacking the agency’s covert electronic communications. At least another half-dozen were imprisoned, according to a 2017 New York Times report. Previously, a suspected Chinese mole escaped the United States and is now living abroad. CCP spies penetrated Taiwan’s National Security Agency. Chinese opera-
tors infiltrated the CIA’s hiring process. According to The New York Times, “Some officers met their sources at a restaurant where Chinese agents had planted listening devices, former officials said, and even the waiters worked for Chinese intelligence.” Amateur hour at the CIA costs lives.
The CIA and FBI have failed to address the many U.S. citizens who operate in gray areas of business in China. Also in 2017, thousands of pages detailing the CIA’s most sensitive cybersecurity hacking tools were themselves hacked and released on Wikileaks. The source of the leak sought “to initiate a public debate about the security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons,” according to Wikileaks. The agency’s current lack of Mandarin speakers, according to Bloomberg, is icing on Beijing’s cake. The CIA and FBI have failed to address the many U.S. citizens who operate in gray areas of both business in China, the profit of which can be turned up and down by the CCP, and pro-Beijing political influence in Washington, which they can use to demonstrate their “friendship” for China. These Beijing–New York business interests act to paralyze American defenses against the CCP by promoting the soft-on-China approach, which is therefore pro-business—in the short run. In the long run, America is selling the CCP $2.3 trillion worth of investments and more than $600 billion in annual trade—plenty of rope with which to hang itself. The root cause of the CIA’s failure is therefore political, at both the macro and micro levels. Successive American presidents and congresses are too
influenced by U.S. corporations profiting from trillions of dollars worth of business in China. Corporations would rather have Washington ignore the China threat than overturn their applecart of profits. Our top American political leadership, including the CIA’s leadership over multiple administrations, is therefore at fault. China analysts who are closest to the intel have understood the threat all along. The political problem is also personal, in that the occasional insider threats within the CIA and other powerful American institutions are insufficiently patriotic. They apparently don’t understand that the CIA and other U.S. military and intelligence entities are absolutely critical in the fight against Beijing’s totalitarianism. They see America’s military, intelligence, and police capabilities as a threat to liberty, rather than its defense. We need better vetting and more patriotic teachers—from primary through graduate and post-professional training. Now America’s applecart is rolling toward the cliff of defeat at the hands of Beijing. It’s unclear whether a last-minute reorientation of intelligence resources will make any difference. But we must try. At this point, along with doubling defense expenditures related to China, especially in terms of large weapons systems with strategic effect, America should be multiplying intelligence expenditures. We need more of all kinds of intelligence about China, including human intelligence, signals intelligence, and imagery intelligence. All of it costs lots of money. Instead, we’re plowing $1 trillion into the Biden administration’s “infrastructure” programs, some of which can be nabbed by Beijing, while our old China intelligence is getting bureaucratically reshuffled into the CIA’s new center. Expect more failures down the road until President Joe Biden and Congress do what’s really needed: put real resources behind the CIA. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 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
Labor Needs and Immigration Can Immigration Relieve the Country’s Labor Shortage? Yes and No
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merica faces a labor shortage. Some 3 million job openings remain unfilled. The labor force—those working or actively seeking work—remains 5.5 million short of pre-pandemic levels. The worker shortage is slowing the pace of the recovery. Though the teeming mass of asylum-seekers at the southern border might seem to offer a solution, it is doubtful in this matter that immigration can help much. But there is also another, more fundamental labor shortage developing. It is demographic in origin. Decades of low birth rates have left a dearth of young workers to take the place of retiring baby boomers. Immigration can help in this important long-term matter, but only if Washington can do what it has failed to do for decades—reform the nation’s immigration system. The immediate labor problem is a legacy of the pandemic. Many, for fear of infection, have avoided the workplace. No statistics exist on how much of the labor shortfall is due to this effect, but given the fears that grew up during the pandemic (and were actively promoted by the authorities and the media), the number is surely significant. Meanwhile, lavish federal benefits have for many reduced the urgency of work. The extra unemployment benefits made it easy for large numbers of people to postpone the search for employment. These unemployment benefits had a special appeal to those with child care responsibilities, as they allowed them to save on child care expenses as well as gave them the added income. The special unemployment payout expired in September, which may explain the remarkable 46 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
employment surge in October, but there are still other federal benefits that will slow the return to prepandemic levels of willing workers. Recently, vaccine mandates have compounded the problem. Thousands, it seems, have either been fired for not complying or quit rather than comply. No direct statistics yet exist on the numbers so affected, but fragmentary anecdotal reports suggest that across the entire country, numbers easily could approach a
Lavish federal benefits have reduced the urgency of work; the extra unemployment benefits made it easy for people to postpone the search for employment. million workers. In this matter, immigration answers for little. The people at the southern border cannot answer, at least not in any reasonable amount of time. Even if, contrary to law, each was immediately issued a green card, many do not speak English, and it would take time for them to migrate to where workers are needed. The immediate shortfall may not lift quickly, but it will lift sooner than any arrangements with these people who can add to the active workforce. Nor do other sources of immigration promise much relief. The green card lottery may admit 1 million at most this year—some relief, perhaps, but far from complete. The H2-B visas promise 90,000 at most this year. Fortunately, this shortfall will dissipate relatively quickly, if not quite as fast as Washington would like
or forecasts. Fears will lift gradually as rates of infection recede as they are doing. Even if the disputes on vaccine mandates persist, they will also soften as rates of infection recede. Rising wages—up 4.6 percent in the past year, faster than in a long time—will also lure people into the workforce. If immigration cannot help with the immediate worker shortfall, it could play a vital role in addressing the nation’s demographically driven labor shortage. This matter has not yet become acute, but the trends are undeniable. Low birth rates since the mid-1960s have constrained the flow of young people into the workforce, and now the huge baby boom generation has begun to retire. The Census Bureau reports that the nation presently has about 2.6 people of working age for every retiree, down from about 3.5 twenty years ago. By 2030, the bureau forecasts that figure will drop to barely over 2. Such a constrained labor situation, if left unaddressed, will slow growth significantly. A flow of work-able immigrants could help ease matters, but that solution will require radical immigration reform. Presently, the U.S. immigration system favors those with family in the country. Whatever the virtues of this approach, it cannot answer to the economy’s needs. A more economically responsive system might gain from the systems used in Canada and Australia. In these nations, prospective immigrants receive points for years of education, for example, special skills, and whether they speak English. If they score high enough, they gain an immediate right to work. The system could help the United States in its demographic predicament, but it would require radical reform to the nation’s system—if what the United States has can be described as a system.
EMEL AKAN is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times in Washington, D.C. Previously she worked in the financial sector as an investment banker at JPMorgan.
Emel Akan
Dollars Flow to Genocide
US pension funds invest in companies involved in human rights abuses
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ocially responsible funds have gained a lot of attention in recent years, but millions of Americans still own stock in companies that are tied to genocidal regimes and have no idea how to spot them in their investment portfolios. Fund management firms don’t provide enough transparency to their customers about their holdings, according to human rights advocates. Because of this, most investors don’t know whether their portfolios are free of companies that substantially contribute to genocide or crimes against humanity, advocates say. This has increasingly become an issue for investors, especially those holding Chinese securities via passively managed exchange-traded funds. In January, the Trump administration declared the Chinese regime’s treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities in the country’s Xinjiang region to be a genocide, a position endorsed by the Biden administration. The U.S. government has also placed sanctions on Chinese officials and entities over its repression of Uyghurs and other groups, including Hongkongers and Falun Gong adherents. Investment management funds in the United States and around the world hold shares of Chinese companies that support the regime’s military and security apparatuses and aid its human rights abuses. To address this loophole, President Joe Biden signed an executive order in June continuing a Trump-era rule that prohibits U.S. investors from investing in Chinese companies with ties to Beijing’s military. Both Biden and Trump declared a national emergency to tackle security threats posed by these companies. “I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency,” Biden said on Nov. 9. “The PRC [People’s
The Treasury Department's ban list includes 59 companies and has not been updated since June. Republic of China] is increasingly exploiting United States capital to resource and to enable the development and modernization of its military, intelligence, and other security apparatuses.” While these measures are monumental, the U.S. government has been slow to respond to the growing threat posed by the regime, according to China hawks in Washington. “Policy response hasn’t been as robust as one would expect,” Bill Browder, a hedge fund manager and human rights activist, said at the 2021 China Forum. The U.S. government “wants to rock the boat as little as possible for fear of economic backlash.” The Treasury’s investment ban list currently includes 59 companies that are operating in the defense and surveillance technology sectors. Americans are barred from investing in the stocks or bonds of these firms. The ban list includes notable companies such as telecoms equipment maker Huawei and video surveillance manufacturer Hikvision.
While denying Chinese firms access to U.S. capital markets is an important step, the ban list isn’t extensive. In June, the administration tasked the Treasury Department with updating the list. However, the Treasury has failed to add new companies, even though critics say there are more entities that threaten U.S. national security. There are more than 400 Chinese entities in the Commerce Department’s “entity list,” which bars the export of U.S. technology to these firms without a license. Those entities were added due to national security concerns or over their role in facilitating Beijing’s rights abuses. Less than 1 percent of these companies have been added to Treasury’s investment ban list, Roger Robinson, former chairman of the congressional U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission, said at the forum. In June, the administration added five China-based solar companies to the entity list for participating in Beijing’s forced labor campaign in Xinjiang. Two of them, Hoshine Silicon Industry and Xinjiang Daqo New Energy, are publicly traded. Critics also question the scope of the entity list, as there are many small Chinese companies that go unnoticed. “We’re talking about 5,000 Chinese companies in the portfolios of roughly 150 million Americans,” Robinson said, referring to all Chinese stocks trading in the United States or other exchanges around the world, as well as over-the-counter markets. And U.S. investors don’t know how many of these companies are human rights violators, he said. Congress is developing a measure to remove non-compliant Chinese companies from U.S. exchanges starting in 2022. The Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act was approved by the Senate unanimously in June and is expected to move through the House soon. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 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
Inflation-Boosting Infrastrucure Plan $1 trillion spending boost is likely to create important challenges
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hat’s the worst thing a government can do when there’s high inflation and supply shortages? Multiply spending on energy- and material-intensive areas. This is exactly what the U.S. infrastructure plan is doing and—even worse— what other developed nations have decided to copy. If you thought there were problems of supply and difficulties in accessing goods and services in the middle of a strong recovery, imagine what will happen once central banks and governments turn up the printing machine to the max to spend on white elephants. There’s no such thing as “multicause inflation.” What President Joe Biden calls “speculation” is simply more money going to the same number of goods. So-called “supply chain disruptions” is more money going to the same services, and “cost-push inflation” is nothing other than more money created to bloat government spending and “infrastructure” plans going to the same number of goods. As one of my followers explains, “More credit issued for GDP related purposes chasing the same amount of goods and services.” More money printed to bloat government spending chasing the same goods and services: Monetary inflation. Who benefits from this massive spending plan? The biggest beneficiaries are Asian economies, according to Bloomberg Economics. Vietnam, Indonesia, and South Korea would get a boost of up to 1 percent of GDP, with India, Japan, and China gaining between 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent of GDP. However, an additional—and quick—$1 trillion spending boost in
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Demand-side policies create a bottleneck and inflationary pressures at the worst moment possible. energy-intensive and material-consuming industries is also likely to create important challenges in terms of inflation and supply shortages. The key parts producers in the world are likely to see more orders but much higher energy prices and transport costs. The reader will likely argue that infrastructure spending is good and needed. However, the problem of demand-side policies is that they create a bottleneck and inflationary pressures in the worst moment possible. Even if the plan is implemented in eight years, it’s likely to put further pressure on prices of essential goods and services instead of putting more effort into reducing the burdens on improving the technology and supply chains through competition and investment. The problem of demand-side policies is that they create a bullwhip effect that’s likely to reduce the potential for
jobs. Why? Because firms that are already facing rising energy bills are unlikely to be able to hire personnel as they would have in a normal recovery. The first effect of such an energy-intensive plan is damage to service sector costs and citizens’ expenses. Pushing a massive spending bill financed with printed money just when the United Nations Food Price Index reaches a new all-time high and oil, gas, copper, and aluminum are at five-year highs is a big problem for small and medium enterprises and families. You may have a job, but costs are going to be very steep. The entire plan reads “more oil, gas, copper, and aluminum demand”: $110 billion in new spending for roads and bridges, $73 billion to upgrade power infrastructure, $66 billion for rail, $65 billion for broadband infrastructure, and $39 billion for transit. Is this infrastructure needed? Maybe. But it would have been a better idea to present the plan with a stronger emphasis on allowing the private sector to pace it according to the reality of supply and demand, and less as a spend-for-spending’ssake way to boost nominal GDP without understanding the risk to the services sector, which is 67 percent of the U.S. economy. The services sector is going to be hurt badly from the rise in inflation as well as the shortages. The U.S. consumer might find that job creation is much smaller than the government expects, because it has always been so with these plans, and that the inflation tax will be much steeper for all. U.S. citizens may think the government is paying for this plan, but they’re wrong. Consumers and taxpayers will suffer the rise in cost of living added to the higher taxes.
Fan Yu
FAN YU is an expert in finance and economics and has contributed analyses on China's economy since 2015.
Xi’s Real Estate Balancing Act
Can Beijing afford to let the property market fail?
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ver the past several years, the Chinese property market has seen ebbs and flows, but has mostly been on an upward trajectory carefully managed by Beijing. While that fueled the growth of China’s gross domestic product, it also created property asset bubbles, caused massive debt loads, and contributed to unhealthy wealth gaps. Beijing recently has endeavored to control property market risk by setting limits on how much developers can borrow, but the stringent measures have sent its over-levered developers to the brink of insolvency. Recently, there have been signs that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is trying to walk back some of the policies. This illustrates the high-wire balancing act CCP regime boss Xi Jinping is currently juggling with China’s economy. A November report by state-run Xinhua’s Shanghai Securities News found that bank financing of real estate purchases has basically returned to “normal” after slowing down for the first three quarters of 2021. It stated that while “certain corrections” were being made—no doubt referring to Beijing’s “three red lines” policy from earlier in the year—the “general direction has not changed,” and that reasonable real estate project funding needs are being met. The southern city of Shenzhen recently relaxed land sale bidding conditions, the first city in China to “backtrack from the draconian measures that have sent the entire country’s real estate industry into a tailspin,” South China Morning Post wrote. Eleven plots of land were put up for bid by the city, and more than one developer would be allowed to bid at the same price points. Winners would be selected partially based upon the number of “affordable” housing units they plan to build. On Nov. 10, the Securities Times, a financial newspaper in China, reported
There are signs the CCP is trying to walk back from some of the draconian policies. that some real estate firms planned to issue debt in the inter-bank market after a recent meeting with China’s inter-bank bond regulators. The offshore bond market is currently frozen to Chinese property firms, so the implicit support from Chinese banks means there’s a market to obtain debt financing domestically. Chinese regulators in recent weeks have come out and reassured investors and homebuyers that risks were containable, and excessive credit restrictions by banks were being alleviated. There have also been more dialogue and collaboration recently between property developers and regulators. These are rather subtle but key policy changes; property developers have faced one obstacle after another since early 2021. Evergrande, Kaisa Group, Fantasia, and Modern Land have all missed interest payments in one form or another this year. The “three red lines” policy restricting debt loads has caused pain for the industry. In short, the policy aims to force deleveraging and improve the financial health of real estate firms. Future access to debt capital depends on their
adherence to a set of three strict criteria outlined by the CCP. What is China going for? In hindsight, the “red lines” were necessary forced de-risking. This year has seen the most forceful crackdown yet on unbridled property speculation, but whether Beijing can ultimately control the consequences remains to be seen. Twenty years ago, China’s urban development and housing construction policies made sense. China was 30 percent urbanized, and increasing foreign demand for goods and the country’s fast economic growth drove a demographic shift from rural to urban areas. This necessitated real estate development. That development and shift also created China’s middle-class, whose wealth is largely made up of real estate. So on some levels, that’s been a success. But as China approaches 70 to 80 percent urbanization, it must avoid the “middle-income trap” experienced by countries that couldn’t advance from an export-based to a service-based economy. This requires resource allocation away from real estate into technology and service sectors that Xi has been advocating over the past two years. Policies such as “dual circulation” to stimulate internal domestic demand, and pushing for “common prosperity” are part of Xi’s agenda to transform its economic fundamentals. This does put a strain on local economies, where fees and profits from the sale of land to property developers provided critical revenue for local and provincial governments. A proposed solution in real estate taxation should more than offset that, if existing pilot programs bear fruit and become widely implemented. In the meantime, much of Chinese citizens’ wealth is still tied to real estate. So Beijing can’t afford to let the property market fail either. Expect more ebbs and flows ahead. But with China’s economy still struggling with COVID-19, Xi’s margin of error is nonexistent. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 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
Counting Our Blessings Let’s make every day a thanksgiving
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hanksgiving is all about food, family, friends, and festivity. Wherever people gather—Grandma’s farmhouse in Iowa, a condo in Jacksonville, or a small apartment in Atlanta—ideally, there’s the mouthwatering scent of cooking food, a lot of talk and laughter, and televisions featuring parades and football games. The kids kick a soccer ball around the front yard, tussle on the living room carpet, or play card games with Uncle John at the dining room table. And before they sit down to the feast, many folks come together to express what they’re thankful for and why. This gratitude, and not the traditional turkey and dressing, makes Thanksgiving unique. From toddlers to octogenarians, all go around the room and give thanks for some treasure in their lives. Thanksgiving is a wonderful and vivid reminder of the importance of feeling gratitude every day. When we focus on what we lack instead of what we possess, when our wants take priority over our needs, our spirits sink. We become those glum people who are always complaining; who whine about their job, their taxes, or their love life; and who grumble and grouse that life isn’t fair. We become our own worst enemies, failing to see, if nothing else, that we’re alive and breathing, players on the stage of the mysterious tragicomedy of life. For that alone, we should be grateful. Wherever we stand on the totem pole of wealth and advantage, we can find something to be grateful for. In the 1934 folk-opera “Porgy
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Sometimes, we forget to give thanks for the familiar things in our lives. and Bess,” the poverty-stricken Porgy sings: “Oh, I got plenty of nothing And nothing’s plenty for me I got the sun, got the moon, Got the deep blue sea….” Porgy nailed the meaning of gratitude. Sometimes we experience gratitude long after some event that seemed horrible at the time has occurred. We get fired from a job, struggle to claw our way out of the pit of unemployment, and find work that brings us great joy. Our mother dies, and we feel devastated by this loss, but years later, we’re grateful that she gave us the gift of herself in so many ways. Part of her goodness lives on in us, and we give thanks every day that we knew her. Sometimes, we forget to give thanks for the familiar things
in our lives. How many of us feel blessed to inhabit a country where liberty and choice, at least so far, are still the hallmarks of our culture? How many of us look at our spouses or friends and really appreciate the blessings they bring into our lives? Here’s a personal example of gratitude forgotten: When I go to the grocery store , I’m surrounded by thousands of different products, goods, and foods from all over the world. If I so choose, I can buy soups made in Germany, corn from the American Midwest, shrimp from the Far East, and apples picked just 30 miles from my house. I live in a time and a place where I’m surrounded by treasures that would have once roused the envy of a king, and yet, I never think to give thanks for this bounty. “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around,” singer-songwriter Willie Nelson said. Why not give Willie’s idea a shot and see what happens? We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving daily thanks for all of our blessings.
Environmental Warriors Valuing Natural Capital
Gretchen Daily Gives Value to Nature
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PATRICK TEHAN
By Nathan Worcester nvironmental scientist and tropical ecologist Gretchen Daily thinks about our environmental challenges, and the people affected by them, on many levels. At one level, there are everyday farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and other producers. “People who work on the land, some who work on the water,” she said. At another level, there are the huge, often impersonal entities—nation-states, the European Union, the World Bank—that seek to structure those producers’ lives and, to at least some extent, the natural world in which we all live. “All of us are drawing from the same natural asset base, and we all need to somehow change the system together—it’s way beyond the power of any one producer, or even any one major industrial or financial player in the system,” Daily said. The size and urgency of our environmental problems led her to think in new ways about nature—and to encourage others to think in new ways as well. What if, for example, we valued nature the way we value economic assets? Daily didn’t invent the term “natural capital,” yet the Stanford professor’s influential work on assessing the value of biodiversity, along with her co-development of the Natural Capital Project, netted her the 2020 Tyler Prize,
seen by many as the environmental sciences’ closest equivalent to the Nobel, and positioned her as a world expert on the topic. Today, Daily wants to integrate perspectives from the research community, governments, and the business community—particularly the financial world, where she said new instruments are enabling a transition from fossil fuels to other energy sources. “We need to bring these values of natural capital in, in a way that puts out really inspiring models of success that then can be replicated,” she said.
“Getting off this path and getting onto a better path hinges on recognizing the values of nature in all of our decision-making.” Daily admits that this can all seem a little abstract. But her hands-on experience applying the concept of natural capital to two Caribbean nations, Belize and the Bahamas, means she can turn to real-world examples. “How can we develop coastlines over, say, a 10- or 20-year time horizon that factors in risks and impacts from climate change, and secures people and property in a way that leads to winwin outcomes?” Daily helped to come up with an answer. She worked with those two countries’ govern-
ments to develop plans to protect and restore natural capital, such as coral reefs and mangroves, while harmonizing the needs of key economic sectors, such as tourism, energy, and offshore shipping and fishing. Belize’s plan, approved in 2016, was implemented with initial financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). “They’ve [IDB] now changed their operations to mainstream the valuing of natural capital into all of their support for countries through loans and other investments, right from the beginning of the planning process,” Daily said. “We’re seeing the science of valuing nature incorporated from the beginning, through planning across country-level development, and being co-developed hand-in-glove with these major development banks and other international financial institutions to bring the plan and vision into reality.” Her environmental “war cry”? Simple, yet resonant on many levels: “Valuing nature.” “We forget how intimately connected we are to nature,” Daily said. “Getting off this path and getting onto a better path hinges on recognizing the values of nature in all of our decision-making—and we need to do that in a more routine and mainstream way, so that it’s just second nature. “It doesn’t mean just putting a price tag on it—that alone will do absolutely nothing,” she said. “It’s much more about building this awareness in our consciousness and building access to nature into people’s lives. “The general movement is all about recognizing the many, many dimensions of nature that we value in different, meaningful ways— spiritual ways, or aesthetic ways, or very personal ways of connecting with nature.”
Gretchen Daily, environmental scientist and tropical ecologist I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 51
Nation Profile
THOUGHT LEADERS
Witness Warns of Parallels Between China’s Cultural Revolution and the US Today ‘If we don’t save this country, there’s no place for us to go,’ Xi Van Fleet says
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merican Thought Leaders host Jan Jekielek spoke with Xi Van Fleet, a Virginia mom from China who made headlines after she compared the rise of critical race theory (CRT) to China’s Cultural Revolution at a Loudoun County School Board meeting.
After that, I was sent to work in the fields to receive reeducation from the peasants—like many urban youths.
JAN JEKIELEK: When
MR . JEKIELEK: Why don’t
you went up to the mic at Virginia’s Loudoun County School Board, you had some strong words to say about trends that reminded you of your experiences in China.
we start with you explaining what the Cultural Revolution was?
MS. VAN FLEET: I grew
up in communist China. When the Cultural Revolution started, I was a first-grader and spent my entire school years in the Cultural Revolution.
MR . JEKIELEK: And then
the whole policy changed? MS. VAN FLEET: Deng Xia-
oping was in power and said we needed to send youths to college. I passed the examination and studied English.
MS. VAN FLEET: Mao
implemented a lot of disastrous policies before the Cultural Revolution. One of them resulted in the famine of some 40 million people who starved to death. Some in the party were questioning his leadership. He started the
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Xi Van Fleet.
Nation Profile
Cultural Revolution to remove his political enemies on all levels. He wanted to put his own people at every level, and that’s the reason he unleashed the Red Guards, the indoctrinated youth in colleges and universities. MR. JEKIELEK: Tell me
what you saw. MS. VAN FLEET: I was a
first-grader and had one semester of normal education. And then to me, my memory is just overnight, the class stopped. And I saw big character posters everywhere. So those are just people writing down whatever criticism, that’s the Chinese word for it, but it’s really denunciation and an attack on teachers, on school administrators, and on each other. What I remember is the chaos in the classroom. And the teacher wrote a note on the blackboard, that said no school for three days. And that stayed there for two years. No school for two years. So when I went back to school, I was in the fourth grade. So I missed second and third grade—no school. MR . JEKIELEK: And who
were these Red Guards? MS. VAN FLEET: Every-
one was a Red Guard. If you were in high school and even in elementary school, they were just too little, but were called the Little Red Guards. But they were organized by themselves, because Mao openly supported them. And they just chanted Mao’s slogan,
“Rebelling is justified.” And Mao said, “Revolution is not a dinner party, and it is violent. So go ahead, do your revolution.” So with Mao’s approval, no one could stop them. So the first thing they did was dismantle the law enforcement and the court system. They even made up their own laws. One of the things they were told was to get rid of those people in authority. And who were the people in authority? The first was the teachers. So many teachers were struggled against, paraded around, and many were beaten, some to death. There was no consequence. Even today, their crimes were never prosecuted. Those people who died, died in vain, forgotten, except by their families. MR. JEKIELEK: So you’re
talking about this struggling. And so I guess these posters were also encouraging people to join in these struggle sessions. Could you just explain what that is exactly? MS. VAN FLEET: These
struggle sessions confused me. One day I was out with a friend. Sometimes they used trucks to parade people and with the sign of a name crossed out. We looked at the name and we were stunned ... it was my friend’s father. MR. JEKIELEK: The other
part was the destruction of history. MS. VAN FLEET: That’s the
central feature of the Cultural Revolution. Mao told
“Mao told the Red Guards, ‘We should get rid of the Four Olds.’ The old ideas, old thoughts, old tradition, old custom and old habits. What are they? They are the traditional culture and civilization.” the Red Guards, “We should get rid of the Four Olds.” The old ideas, old thoughts, old tradition, old custom, and old habits. What are they? They’re the traditional culture and civilization. So all the Buddhist statues were torn down, temples were destroyed or burned. And what I witnessed was Red Guards going door to door to raid homes. And so, they would just go to homes and take out anything that was old. Old vases, antique furniture, anything: They would just take these things and burn them or smash them. You couldn’t wear anything fashionable. I witnessed Red Guards cutting a girl’s hair off because her hairstyle wasn’t approved. It was insane. Absolute madness. MR . JEKIELEK: This is
unleashing people’s worst inclinations, right? MS. VAN FLEET: Just
like Antifa, which is why it looked so familiar to me. Antifa and the BLM [Black
Lives Matter] activists knew they could do it. Same as the Red Guard. They knew there would be no consequences. MR . JEKIELEK: Let’s
move to the present. People became aware of you, as I did, when you stepped up to the mic at the school board meeting. What inspired you to do this? MS. VAN FLEET: Actually,
I’ve been seeing America going in the wrong direction for a long time, for I would say at least 10 years. The turning point for me was the riots. There’s no doubt whatsoever—this is cultural revolution. After that, I joined the Loudoun County Republican Women’s Club. I got their emails and calls for action. One of them was, “Go speak to the school board.” That’s what I did. MR . JEKIELEK: You were
telling me that in China people died, people were killed in terrible ways, there were these constant
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 53
Nation Profile
“[Critical race theory] is tailormade for America.”
Red Guards (high school and university students) waving copies of Chairman Mao Zedong's "Little Red Book" parade in Beijing's streets at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in June 1966.
to parents who used to own land, you were considered a class enemy at birth. And does that remind us of critical race theory? If you are born white, then you are the oppressor. And if you are born black, you are the oppressed. MR . JEKIELEK: So how is
it the same thing? struggle sessions. That seems more extreme than what’s happening in America. So how is this like the Cultural Revolution? MS. VAN FLEET: People here
are very afraid. I see them, especially in my workplace. So there’s the right way to talk. There are the right ideas and the others who don’t share it feel like if they tell their own opinion, they might run the risk of being considered racist. That’s the word like in China: counter-revolution. It fit everyone. MR . JEKIELEK: Then
you’re saying the word racist is essentially—
saying counter-revolutionary in China. A racist is someone who discriminates against someone else based on their race. But now the meaning has changed. If you disagree
MR . JEKIELEK: Some-
thing just struck me when you’re talking about these historical counter-revolutionaries. That’s something that you could actually inherit from your parents. MS. VAN FLEET: In order
to continue the class conflict, Mao had to make new enemies. One of the things he did was to make this hereditary. If you were born
54 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
MS. VAN FLEET: Classic
Marxism divides by class. And it was successfully used in countries such as Russia, China, and other underdeveloped countries. But in America, the class division hasn’t worked so well so far. So they have to come up with something different. CRT is tailor-made for America. They also use class, gender, sexuality, and intersectionality to divide people. All of these are the tools to divide and all of these are rooted in cultural Marxism. Mao used it and the left is using it now. MR . JEKIELEK: In a recent
letter, the National School Board Association said there’s an immediate threat of violence from parents. The Justice Department basically responded, “The federal government is going to address such threats.” Is there a threat?
ents are angry. But is that considered violence? The government considers this violence because they don’t want parents to be part of the education decision. MR . JEKIELEK: How have
you seen things change? MS. VAN FLEET: Parents
are waking up. During COVID, parents saw what was going on in the classroom through Zoom. MR . JEKIELEK: What’s
next for you? MS . VA N FLEET: Because
of that school board meeting speech I made, I was able to reach more people. I have to say I’m doing this because I want to wake people up. What’s happening here in America is nothing new. It happened in China. It happened to me and this is my lived experience. And if we let it go and don’t stop it, we’ll have the same result. I urge all immigrants who love this country and have experienced communism to speak up. This is our last chance. If we don’t save this country, there’s no place for us to go. This interview was edited for brevity and content.
JEAN VINCENT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
MS. VAN FLEET: It’s like
with leftist ideology, you become a racist. And in China, they had two kinds of counter-revolutionaries. One was what you did today and what you said today. The other was called historic counter-revolutionary. It’s what you did before and what you said before. So now, I see the same thing in America, because racist is a hat that fits all. We see people getting called racist who have nothing to do with racism.
MS. VAN FLEET: Par-
T R AV E L • F O O D • L U X U R Y L I V I N G
Unwind
Issue. 06
More than 30 temples dot the UNESCO World Heritage town. PHOTO BY CRAIG HASTINGS/ SHUTTERSTOCK
TOURERS engage all their senses when exploring the road from the saddle of a motorcycle. 64
Finding Serendipity in Luang Prabang Wandering off the beaten path in this riverside town in Laos yields unexpected discoveries. 58
✒
CHRONOGRAPHS were originally created to time laps in racing events by adding stopwatch functions to watches. 67 CIDERS, long ago replaced by beer as a casual beverage in the United States, are worth rediscovering. 60
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 55
The villa’s interiors open onto exterior terraces and a stunning infinity pool area facing Heraklion Bay and the azure Cretan Sea below.
MEDITERRANEAN MASTERPIECE
This stunning villa provides the same view of the Cretan Sea as enjoyed by Hercules
By Phil Butler
F
56 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
the fact that location is the key feature of this home. Situated high up on a half-acre plot directly on the Cretan Sea, the villa’s vantage point is indescribable. Breathtaking is the word that best describes its stunning sea vistas. The designers also took advantage of the natural landscape by creating interiors that give the feeling of being wrapped in light. The wildness of the surrounding nature is slightly tamed and melts seamlessly with the warm, elegant rooms within the structure. At dawn, the first rays of the sun bathe the villa in a bright, almost surreal burst of color. Then, as night falls, the villa takes on a dreamy and mysterious glow. The property’s surroundings are dominated by a large infinity pool with a hydromassage feature. There’s also a barbecue area with a fully equipped kitchenette—and a wood-fired oven as well, just for those traditional Cretan specialties. Down below, relaxing pergolas overlook the southern Aegean Sea, and a private beach lies beneath skillfully manicured garden terraces. Smart home features, more exquisite design and construction elements, and the fragrant scents from lemon, orange, mandarin, and banana trees complete this extraordinary property on Greece’s largest island paradise. 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.
VILLA POSEIDON II CRETE, GREECE 2.9 MILLION EUROS (ABOUT $3.32 MILLION) • 6 BEDROOMS • 5,339 SQUARE FEET • 0.50 ACRE KEY FEATURES: • COMMANDING VIEWS OF THE CRETAN SEA AND HERAKLION • SPECIAL LIGHT AND DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS • INFINITY POOL AND TERRACED GARDENS • PRIVATE BEACH AND SEASIDE AREAS • IDEAL LOCATION AGENT EUROLAND PROPERTY GROUP CHANIA, CRETE, GREECE +30 28210 79046 AND +30 6951 653 562
ALL PHOTOS BY PANTELIS MATHIOUDAKIS
or the dreamer out there in search of ancient myths, pirate fortresses, dreamy seascapes, and kind of a Bond villain vibe in a home, a magnificent villa for sale on the island of Crete may be just the thing. Situated a stone’s throw away from medieval pirate Enrico Pescatore’s lair overlooking Heraklion Bay and the southern Aegean Sea, Villa Poseidon II offers commanding views. This unique property is located in the tiny traditional village of Palaiokastro, a few miles outside of Heraklion itself, which happens to be Crete’s capital city. Built in 2012, the seafront escape was designed to be visually stunning, yet ultra-functional. The 5,339-square-foot home, which is listed for 2.9 million euros (about $3.32 million), features six luxurious bedrooms, six baths, and two half-baths, as well as just about every amenity you can imagine. There are two living rooms, a professional-grade kitchen, a sauna, a gym, a kids’ playroom or exercise room, a wine cellar, laundry and linen rooms, and much more. On the upper level, the master bedroom features its own bath with a jacuzzi, living area, and dressing room, with a balcony that overlooks the sea and the city of Heraklion. As detailed and luxurious as the interior features of the house are, there’s no escaping
A private parking area leads to an unpretentious main entrance set in the mountainous Cretan coast overlooking Crete’s capital.
Inside, chic Italian interiors are bathed in light during the daytime, and the coolness of Aegean moonlight after sunset. Pictured here is one of the living rooms, the informal dining room, and the passage to the fully equipped kitchen.
The materials and the use of ambient light create an atmosphere best understood by holding a glass of the best Cretan wine and staring out to sea.
Another angle of the lower terrace shows the villa as sunset bathes every level in a warm ambiance. The lights of Heraklion can be seen off in the distance.
The large suites convey a sense of openness and freedom alongside a feeling of solitude and security. This aspect of the property is fascinating, and perhaps the villa’s best selling point. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 57
Travel Southeast Asia
A street in old town Luang Prabang at sunset.
Insider’s Laos: Exploring Luang Prabang This tranquil riverside town is rich in culture—and serendipitous experiences
H
By Tim Johnson
58 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
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mixing me a cocktail. Soon, she introduced me to the rest of the patrons in the bar. By the end of the night, I felt like I knew half the people in town. With that one visit to the bar, my entire time in this ancient capital was transformed. Sometimes, truly experiencing a place relies on who you know there—or who you meet upon arrival. While guided tours can show you the sights and provide a safe experience, there’s value in arriving in a new destination and making your plans day by day. Asking locals for recommendations. Just going with the flow, wherever it takes you. In Luang Prabang, a compact town surrounded on three sides by water, that’s what I did. Once, this small city was home to the Laotian royal family, and the handsome French BeauxArts palace in the heart of town stands testament to their wealth and prestige. It’s now a museum, and you can walk through to view the pure gold serving vessels, the red throne room, and the ornate bedrooms of the king and queen.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: F11PHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK, BEIBAOKE/SHUTTERSTOCK, THE EPOCH TIMES, NUT IAMSUPASIT/SHUTTERSTOCK
aving landed that morning in Luang Prabang, Laos, an almost-mystical city of temples and palaces cradled high in the mountains, I made my way to the night market. Set close to a big bend of the mighty Mekong River, this famous market features hundreds of vendors, a swirl of color and light under red and blue tents, selling everything from hand-painted artwork to pop-up postcards. Reaching the end, the clatter and illumination of the night market fading behind me, the street quickly grew quiet and dark. I debated returning to the hotel but decided to walk a few more blocks, toward the sound of laughter and clinking glasses. I arrived at a small, motorcycle-themed pub, where the owner explained that she’d ridden all over Southeast Asia, and that her happiest times were on the back of a bike. “I love it so much. Most of the time, I don’t have a plan—I’m just gone,” she said, while
Travel Southeast Asia
g on ek M
It’s a spiritual town, too, coursing with monks, who belong to the 33 Buddhist temples here, You fall in making their way through the streets to collect alms early every morning. Sprinkling in love fast the main historic sites, I decided to go a little with Luang deeper, spending most of my time moving from Prabang. recommendation to recommendation, and per... Nobody sonality to personality. Which is how I ended up at Emmanuelle, a and nothing breezy hole-in-the-wall restaurant suggested rushes here. by one of my new friends at the motorbike bar, Julie, restaurant owner chatting with the co-owner, named Julie. “You fall in love fast with Luang Prabang,” she said. “It’s a quiet, easy life. Nobody and nothing rushes here.” She directed me to a few lesser-visited attractions, including an excelLAOS lent French bakery, and a scattering V IE T N A M of smaller temples behind it. “And don’t e na i t V miss Garavek, the storytellers are amazing,” she added, pointing me to a small theater just a few steps from the river. ArT H A IL N D riving for the nightly session, I found the South Rim tiny place packed with listeners hanging on Luang Prabang every word spoken by the two Laotian men is situated by on stage. the Mekong One young, and one old, they told a long and River, 130 miles winding tale with relish, leaning forward to northwest of accentuate the important parts, singing and Ventiane. occasionally picking up an instrument to pluck r ve Ri
ple want to learn. They want to know the history behind it. They want to If You Go hold it in their hands.” When to Go: The following days The dry season were full. I joined some prevails from of my pub friends for a November through March; fishing trip on the river, the rainy season catching precious little is June to August. but soaking up plenty The months of of sun. I spent plenty December and of time lingering with January are cool. a local beer on patios Getting There: all over town, chatting Fly from Vientiane or other cities in with whomever hapsoutheast Asia. pened to be close by. Hopping in a tuk-tuk Getting Around: and making my way to Luang Prabang can be explored by a crafts village where foot or bike; you beautiful pashminas, can also easily hail robes, and shirts were tuk-tuks. made, I took buildings Side Trips: Head set among the lush forto the Mekong est. A guide led me River for a boat through, noting that excursion, see the 60 percent of their Buddha statues at the Pak Ou Caves, textiles are sourced or visit the nearby from more than 400 Kuang Si and Tad weavers all over the Sae waterfalls. country, and the remainder made right there on site. Weaving is an increasingly rare skill and a painstaking process. “Kids learn from their mothers, that’s how we pass on the knowledge,” she told me. “It takes two weeks, full-time, to create two meters of cloth.” Finishing the tour at a table overlooking the Mekong river, I grabbed a cup of tea, as the light began to fade, just one little boat left in the middle of the vast Mekong. I rose to return to the tuk-tuk, wondering what new adventure would await tomorrow. Tim Johnson is based in Toronto. He has visited 140 countries across all seven continents.
Buddhist monks collect alms, a longstanding tradition. a string. I quickly lost the plot, but caught up with them afterward. They said everyone in Laos knows these stories; they’re an essential part of an upbringing here. “The tales from this province, they’re about the origins of the rivers, the rocks, the mountains, and the kingdom,” one explained. When I mentioned the rapt attention of their audience that night, the other chimed in: “Oh yes, peo-
“LUANG PRABANG”
means “Royal Buddha Statue.” “Prabang” refers to the Buddha statue in Haw Phra Bang Temple.
Haw Phra Bang, on the Royal Palace grounds, seems old but was finished only in 2006. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 59
SEASONAL SIPS: Falling for Hard Cider CIDER HAS A STORIED PAST
and a delicious present. The Romans discovered it when they invaded the British Isles, and it was the drink of choice of early Americans when they had no grains or barley to brew beer— but plenty of apples. By Bill Lindsey
Bordatto Etxaldea
Basa Jaun 2015, Basque Country, $20
J.K.’s Scrumpy Hard Cider, Michigan, $8.99
Made from apples grown in a Michigan orchard owned by the same family for over 150 years, J.K.’s ciders are USDA Organic and gluten-, sulphate-, and sorbate-free. No two batches of this estatebottled cider will be exactly the same.
Vintage Gala, Georg ia, $17 Like many of their offerings, Atlanta-based Urban Tree’s Vintage Gala is a prizewinner in international wine and cider competitions. This bottle isn’t always available, but is well worth the wait for its delicate hint of toasted vanilla flavor.
60 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
Samuel Smith
Organic Cider, UK, $10.95 The British Isles are often credited for creating cider, and this offering from Samuel Smith proves it was a great idea. This medium-dry, light-bodied cider from the oldest brewery in Yorkshire is quite literally history in a bottle.
2 Towns Cider
BrightCider, Oregon and Washington State, $5.39 Newtown Pippin apples, one of the country’s oldest varieties, provide a unique flavor found only in American ciders, making them an ideal choice for this Oregon-based producer. With a dry, not overly sweet flavor and light coloring, BrightCider pairs well with fish, pork, and salads.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF J.K.'S FARMHOUSE CIDERS, DOMAINE BORDATTO, 2 TOWNS CIDERHOUSE, SAMUEL SMITH, URBAN TREE CIDERY
Urban Tree
A blend of 19 organic heirloom apple varieties found near the Pyrenees Mountains, this is a naturally sparkling, slightly acidic, hearty cider. Named for a legendary Basque wild man, it completes fermentation in the bottle. Best when aged several years.
The Art of the Thank You Note
Put It in Writing Why, how, when, and to whom to send a personalized thank you note
A proper thank you note showing appreciation for a holiday or birthday gift or a considerate action is a core concept of good manners. As a pleasant bonus, it can also result in unexpected benefits for the sender. By Bill Lindsey
4 Who to Send It To
1 Why Send a Thank You
In addition to sending a thank you note to a gift-giver, the practice should also be extended to those who have provided assistance on a personal or work project or performed some other act of kindness. As an example, consider sending a note to a neighbor for helping with a garden project or hosting a holiday party, or to a supervisor offering career advice, or to those on a committee you chair.
As children, we learned at an early age to write thank you notes after receiving birthday or holiday gifts (or risk Mom’s wrath), usually keeping them as brief as possible, such as simply, “Dear Grandma, thank you.” A sign of being a respectful member of society is having an awareness of the importance of acknowledging thoughtful actions. A handwritten thank you note shows appreciation for a gift or action and respect for the giver.
CSA IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
2 How to Send a Note E-mail, texts, and instant messaging are efficient ways to communicate in our busy daily lives, but they’re not an appropriate way to send a thank you note. According to Justin Trabert of Artful Matters, “A thank you note must be handwritten.” He says: “I suggest using monogrammed stationery or a customized stamp featuring a photo of you and your family. If you don’t have stationery, write a personalized message on a tasteful thank you card from a card store.”
3 When to Send It Trabert says: “My rule of thumb is to write and send the note no later than a week after receiving a gift. By sending a handwritten note right away, you show the gift giver how much you appreciate the gift and respect their generosity.” The bonus to acting promptly is that it allows you to relive and relish the pleasure of opening the gift and appreciate the great people in your life.
5 What to Say The person giving the gift took time away from all their other responsibilities to consider, select, and then give a gift they felt would be perfect for you. You return the favor by letting them know it really is exactly right and how much you’re enjoying it. If the gift was cash or a gift card, let them know how you’ll be spending it. The goal is to acknowledge how their kind action brightened your day.
I N S I G H T November. 12 – 18, 2021 61
Epoch Booklist
NOTEWORTHY READS NONFICTION
San Fransicko
By Michael Shellenberger
Why Our Cities Are Failing In cities governed by progressives, extreme housing-first policies have actually exacerbated homelessness and crime. Underneath it all is an ideology that labels those affected as victims and absolves them of personal responsibility. Extensively researched. HARPER, 2021, 416 PAGES
Disinformation
By Ion Mihai Pacepa and Ronald J. Rychlak
Secrets From a Spymaster Disinformation is so common these days that it’s easy to be deceived. This book, written by one of the highest-ranking defectors from the former Eastern Bloc, explains how disinformation works, with examples from the Cold War era. It reads
Learn how disinformation works from a high-ranking defector from the former Eastern Bloc, and delve into a fine narrative of the Civil War.
like a spy novel, detailing how the American public was manipulated and lied to through incidents manufactured by the Soviets. Once you understand how disinformation works, you’ll see it everywhere— and how it is pushed by media that denounce it. An extremely valuable book. WND BOOKS, 2013, 429 PAGES
HISTORY
The Civil War
By Shelby Foote
Narrative History at Its Finest Writer Walker Percy called this trilogy “an American Iliad.” This meticulously researched history— Foote spent nearly 20 years researching and writing it—has brought both praise and criticism from other historians, yet nearly all would agree the novelist-turned-historian tells the story of the Civil War like no other. Here is a narrative history nearly 3,000 pages long, and not a dull one among them. A stupendous achievement by a man whose publisher originally asked him to write a short volume. VINTAGE, 1986 2,968 PAGES
62 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
Are there books you’d recommend? We’d love to hear from you. Let us know at features@epochtimes.com
The Ghosts of Eden Park
By Karen Abbott
King of the Bootleggers George Remus dreamed of making a name for himself. In 1921, he owned 35 percent of all liquor in the United States. Fresh out of law school, Mabel Walker Willebrandt is also on track to make a name for herself as a pioneering prosecutor. Franklin Dodge is the investigator but is it Remus or Remus’s wife that he is after? And then, there is a murder. Abbott combines meticulous historical research with superb storytelling. CROWN PUBLISHING, 2019, 319 PAGES
DRINKS
World Atlas of Beer
By Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont
A Compendium of Brews Inside this third edition is a curated list of the essential beers and
beer places throughout the planet, broken down by region, country, or even city, with fascinating elements scattered throughout—such as notes on Dutch beer bar etiquette or the state of hops. There’s also guidance for buying, pouring, pairing, and storing. MITCHELL BEAZLEY, 2021, 272 PAGES
CLASSICS
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
By Betty Smith
Poverty, Grit, and Aspiration
Set in Brooklyn in the early 20th century, this 1943 novel tells the story of the impoverished Nolan family and their struggle as they seek the American Dream. Francie is the center of the story, a girl who loves books and learning and who adores her father for his imagination and musical talent, despite his failure as a provider. From her mother, Francie learns grit and willpower. Like the tree growing in the courtyard of their apartment building, she refuses to be destroyed by her trials. A beloved American classic, and rightly so. HARPER PERENNIAL MODERN CLASSICS, 2018, 493 PAGES
FOR KIDS
Casey at the Bat
By Ernest Lawrence Thayer and Patricia Polacco
A Great American Poem Is Given a Twist Want to keep the baseball season going with the little ones? Read them this book. Thayer’s original poem is included, but Polacco’s additions and illustrations give us Casey as an arrogant boy who learns a lesson. Fun for everyone. PUTNAM PUBLISHING, 1997, 32 PAGES
Madeline
By Ludwig Bemelmans
In an Old House in Paris This 1939 classic introduces us to the high-spirited and precocious young girl, one of 12 little girls who live in a “vine-covered house in Paris.” Young girls, especially, will enjoy traveling the globe with the irrepressible Madeline. VIKING, 2012, 36 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 check out a couple of films that are perfect for the holidays and one about a courageous, real-life anti-war hero.
NEW RELEASE
PERFECT FAMILY VIEWING FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Fly Away Home (1996)
Eternals (2021 )
BIOGR APHY
Marvel’s odd choice for a new superhero franchise features woke-friendly, uniformed demigod-like characters who like to stand in triangular formations—a lot. The vague “story” has to do with ancient super-beings (the Eternals), whose goal is to keep their human flock on Earth safe from the film’s baddies, the Deviants. But they're impeded by a prime directive not to interfere with the lives of mere mortals. Indicative of Marvel’s decline into full wokeness instead of decent storytelling, but may appeal to progressives.
Release Date: Nov. 5, 2021 Director: Chloé Zhao Starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie Runtime: 2 hours, 36 minutes Rating: PG-13 Where to Watch: Theaters
kept well-hidden. How long can she keep her slick charade going when her boss decides to visit? DR AMA
(1945)
Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) has a popular food column with a very large fan base. Although Lane
presents herself as a wholesome farm girl with a fantastic marriage who happens to have a knack for whipping up delicious recipes, she’s actually a spoiled city slicker. It’s a secret that she’s
eventually have to fly south, will father and daughter be able to help the birds achieve their goal? ADVENTURE
Release Date: Sept. 13, 1996 Director: Carroll Ballard Starring: Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin Runtime: 1 hour, 47 minutes Rating: PG Where to Watch: Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video
A FILM ABOUT STICKING TO ONE’S CONVICTIONS
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
LAUGHS GALORE IN THIS CLASSIC HOLIDAY TREAT
Christmas in Connecticut
Thirteen-year-old Amy (Anna Paquin) and her mother are involved in an auto accident, and although Amy survives the ordeal, her mother doesn’t. Her estranged father, Thomas “Tom” Alden (Jeff Daniels), steps up to take care of her, and she travels to Canada to live with him. Her bumpy adjustment is eased when she finds an abandoned nest full of goose eggs, and she takes a parental role toward the goslings when they hatch. But when the geese
Release Date: Aug. 11, 1945 Director: Peter Godfrey Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet Running Time: 1 hour, 41 minutes Rating: Not Rated Where to Watch: Redbox, Amazon Prime Video, DirectTV
This movie tells the story of real-life hero Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield). Doss enlists in the U.S. Army to fulfill his burning patriotic duty to serve his country. However, one of the core tenets of his Seventh-day Adventist beliefs forbids him from carrying a rifle. Doss’s unrelenting faith is put to the test—first as he earns the ire of his fellow soldiers during training, then during the brutal Battle of Okinawa. Packed with great life lessons about holding
true to one’s convictions, this movie also features some phenomenal action scenes. BIOGR APHY
Release Date: Nov. 4, 2016 Director: Mel Gibson Starring: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey Running Time: 2 hours, 19 minutes Rating: R Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Redbox, Vudu
I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 63
A motorcycle makes any road trip an epic adventure By Bill Lindsey
Lifestyle Motorcyle Touring
Riders compare seeing the world from a motorcycle to meditation.
O
U R L I V E S H AV E
been turned upside down over the past many months with lockdowns and mask mandates, and the resulting isolation has induced a serious case of cabin fever. In search of wide-open spaces, a huge number of people have turned to driving vacations instead of going to crowded resorts via commercial flights or even trains. Most use a car or an RV, but more adventurous souls choose a motorcycle to get some fresh air and see the world.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF EAGLERIDER
Touring Motorcycle touring became a “thing” in the post-World War II years, initially with young men seeking adventure. But soon it expanded to include riders of all ages enjoying the freedom of the open road. Early tourers had to endure roadside camping and eating canned beans, and they hoped there would be a gas station over the next hill. Now there’s a plethora of gas stations, roadside restaurants, hotels, and motels across the country, ensuring a full gas tank,
Adventurous souls choose a motorcycle to get some fresh air and see the world. delicious meals, and a warm bed waiting at the end of a day’s ride. Early tourers rode often-finicky motorcycles that had to be kickstarted and were equipped with absolutely zero creature comforts. Happily, today’s bikes start with a push of a button and can be accessorized with sound systems, GPS, and even heated handlebars for chilly mornings. In addition to being reliable, many are set up for comfortable longrange cruising.
Let a Company Set It Up If you ride a modern touring bike, you know all this. But what about those who don’t, or those who either have never ridden a motorcycle or haven’t for a very long time? Seek a company specializing in organizing everything that’s needed
to set off on a solo ride or as part of a group. They can assist with route planning and the best time of year to ride. If you don’t have experience riding a motorcycle or need to earn a motorcycle endorsement for your driver’s license, they can pair you up with local organizations ready to teach you the essential skills needed to ensure a fun and safe dream road trip. The easiest way to see new parts of the country from the back of a bike is to use a reputable, established company, such as EagleRider. Most touring companies allow you to make a round trip, or you can arrange to leave the bike at the destination. Many actually offer a discount to riders willing to ride a route to return the bikes to the usual starting point. Working with a company that has locations across the United States and in other countries gives you more latitude in choosing a route while saving you the effort of riding your bike to the destination—and then back home. A knowledgeable tour company can make a dream trip an easy, effortless experience, especially if you’ve never been I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 65
Lifestyle Motorcyle Touring
LIFESTYLE
TOURING 101
What you need to know to plan your dream trip
1 What to Ride
Traveling as a group is a great way to make new lifelong friends. select a nimbler bike instead of a large touring model. Often, the van will also tow a spare motorcycle for use in case a rider has mechanical problems out on the road. You can certainly select a classic touring motorcycle, such as a Harley Davidson Road Glide bike with a comfortable passenger seat and large locking saddlebags to secure your luggage. EagleRider riders can select bikes ranging from dual-sport “adventure bikes” to sporty café racers or Harley Davidson Freewheelers that deliver all of the rumble on a bike that has outstanding stability and is easy to operate, even for brand new riders. Whatever bike or route you choose, the experience will leave you wanting more, with a wide grin—possibly bug-spattered— on your face. ■
66 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
Where to Ride When you consider where to go, check to see what the weather will be when you plan to ride. Ride along the US–Canada border during the summer or plan a ride into Baja, Mexico, in the winter.
3 What to Bring
Choosing a Bike If possible, opt for a guided tour that has a van to carry luggage, leaving you free to bring everything you may need, focus on the ride, and have the opportunity to
2
At the end of a day's ride, it's time to bask in the glow of adventure.
Most motorcycle tour companies will provide a helmet, but to ensure a perfect, comfortable fit, bring your own. Also bring your riding jacket, sunglasses, rain gear, boots, and gloves.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF EAGLERIDER
there before. Marcelo Konatu came from Brazil to make a trip that had long been on his bucket list. “Route 66 is comprised of new and renamed roads,” Konatu said. “The guides know all of it, so we didn’t have to fumble to figure out where to go. We rode for 16 days, departing from Los Angeles to visit Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Death Valley, and many cool, quirky places along the way that only knowledgeable tour guides can find. We went from below sea level to 10,000-foot elevations on the same day, with temperatures from -4 to 32 Celsius [47 to 90 Fahrenheit].” Hendrick Habke traveled from Germany to fulfill his lifetime dream of exploring Route 66, choosing a guided tour to get the most out of the experience. “We stayed at great hotels and rode the most scenic routes that we never would have found on our own. We rode with a wonderful group of people that are now dear friends. We are already planning our next trip with the same group of riders,” he said.
If there’s a van following the group to carry your luggage, you don’t have to select a touring bike. Pick a bike suited to the routes’ twisty mountain roads or two-lane highways.
Luxury Living Watches
CHRONOGRAPHS: A MUST FOR SERIOUS WATCH COLLECTIONS In the horological world, chronographs are often associated with racing. Originally engineered to track lap times, the stopwatch function has proven to be very practical for anyone keeping track of elapsed time (such as parking meters!). By Bill Lindsey
S LY ’ S C H O I C E
CL ASSIC ST Y LE
Panerai Luminor Chrono
Bell & Ross BR V3-94 R.S.20
FROM $9,200
Worn by the Italian Royal Navy since 1916, Panerai gained prominence when actor Sylvester Stallone began wearing it on and off-screen. The Luminor Chrono features a crown guard on the 44 mm case, accented by a bright-white dial with oversized 12 and 6 o’clock marks. A black alligator leather strap adds a sophisticated touch.
FROM $4,400
Inspired by Formula 1 race cars, the design features a unidirectional 60-minute timer bezel while the black dial pops via yellow tachymeter scale, minute, and second hands. A black-andyellow carbon fiber calfskin strap is standard; a stainless-steel bracelet is also available.
O T H E R W O R L D LY ACCUR ACY
Rolex Daytona
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURERS
FROM $13,150
SUPERCHARGED ELEGANCE
Breitling Super Chronomat FROM $8,500
The Super Chronomat was originally created for pilots, but it keeps those on the ground on time for appointments, too. Setting a tone of sophisticated adventure, it goes from the cockpit to the opera.
Rolex’s Daytona may be the ultimate chronograph; all are collectible, with Paul Newman’s recently selling for $17.8 million. The iconic design coupled with precise accuracy makes them highly sought after in stainless steel or gold. Those seeking the unusual will gravitate to the newest Daytona featuring a dial crafted from a meteorite.
A POR SCHE FOR YOUR W R IST
Tag Heuer Porsche Edition
FROM $5,850
Ready to time a board meeting or lap times, the dial features a unique black asphalt texture. A transparent case back reveals an oscillating mass inspired by a Porsche steering wheel. I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021 67
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