Vision Times Newspaper VOL.49 DEC 10 ,2021 by Vision Times -Bringing you Truth, Inspiration, Hope

VISION TIMES

VOL.049 DEC 10 - DEC 16 , 2021

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China Eyeing First Atlantic Military Base in Africa

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US Officially Announces Diplomatic Boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

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By Alina Wang Vision Times By Jonathan Walker Vision Times

n Dec. 6, Washington announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics scheduled to take place in Beijing in February. A diplomatic boycott means that the United States will not send a delegation to attend the event. However, American athletes will compete in the games. The boycott extends to the Paralympics as well. The Biden administration has justified the boycotts by pointing to the severe human rights abuses committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The U.S. usually sends a delegation led by the first lady or the sitting vice president to attend the Olympics. At this year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the delegation from Washington was led by first lady Jill Biden. Continued on A6

Biden’s Marxist Currency Comptroller Nominee Withdraws After Bipartisan Backlash By Neil Campbell Vision Times

resident Joe Biden’s nomination for a crucial and high-powered financial sector regulatory body voluntarily withdrew her application after a number of centrist Democrats were said to be pushing opposition behind the scenes over the candidate’s pointedly Marxist background and ideology. Continued on A2

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Nearly Half of US Population

SUFFERING FROM

INFLATION By Ashok Ramprasad Vision Times

ith the American economy experiencing the highest inflation in over three decades, millions of households are feeling the pinch as the cost of food, rent, and a range of other goods and services have increased. A recent survey published by Gallup on Dec. 2 revealed that nearly half of U.S. households experienced financial hardship to a certain extent due to the recent spike in prices. The survey was conducted between Nov. 3 and 16, involving nearly 1,600 adults. With the peak holiday season arriving and heating costs expected to rise due to winter, 45 percent of Americans reported that they have been impacted by inflation. Out of this, 35 percent said that the financial distress was moderate, while 10 percent said it was “severe,” implying that it hindered their ability to maintain a certain standard of living. Those who belong to the low-income group and individuals with lesser education were the most affected.

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Households making less than $40,000 a year were the ones whose pockets were squeezed the most. Around 71 percent of the lower-income groups attributed their financial woes to the recent price hikes. 28 percent admitted the hardship they were facing as severe, making it difficult to maintain their current standard of living. On the other hand, 47 percent of middle-income households (earning between $40,000 and $99,000 a year) pointed to inflation as a reason for their difficulties. However, most of them felt the problems were tolerable. 29 percent of the higherincome groups, those raking in more than $100,000 a year, also faced problems from inflation. But, the effect of inflation was moderate overall. Among adults without a college degree, 54 percent admitted that inflation was causing difficulties to them and their families. But only 30 percent with a college degree reported the same.

Politics changing the perceptions of the economy

Democrats were less inclined

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to admit that they suffered from inflation when compared to Republicans and independents. 53 percent of Republicans and 49 percent of independents admitted to having experienced some sort of challenge due to higher costs. When it came to the Democrats, it was just 37 percent. However, Gallup noted that the rates were almost similar among people in the three groups who said that the hardship brought about by inflation was “severe.” It was 8 percent for the Democrats and 11 percent for both independents and Republicans. When inquired about what was at fault for the surge in prices, 80 percent of Americans laid the blame to some extent on COVID-19 while 57 percent said that “some” or “a great deal” of responsibility falls on President Joe Biden. Inflation has become a political nightmare for Biden and his administration who have held large companies accountable for raising prices and making profits. As Americans step out of the pandemic ready to spend, prices have been surging for months.

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A report from a classified American intelligence source told The Wall Street Journal on Dec. 6 that China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is scoping the Central African country of Equatorial Guinea to establish its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean. The report said the base would be a massive facility capable of rearming and refitting warships. It also revealed that discussions were being held with the government of Tanzania for the establishment of its first naval base in Africa. The Chinese government has said it is aiming to bolster diplomatic relations with African nations and hopes to expand its military presence in the Horn of Africa.

Any maritime threat in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could divert the globe’s tanker traffic from two 2-mile-wide channels around the tip of Africa, causing massive blockages.

China’s military base in Africa, if granted permission, would be the PLA’s second installation in Africa, after a US $590 million facility it currently operates in Djibouti. That base gives the PLAN valuable access to the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal. Approximately 30 percent of the world’s seaborne petroleum and natural gas pass through these vital waterways everyday. Beijing has stressed the importance of Djibouti’s geographic location as it is pivotal in gaining an upper hand on global shipping lanes and due to its close proximity to key nations in both Africa and Asia. Continued on A7

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NATION

A2 | DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021

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US Manufacturing Activity Growth Slows in November (Image: Scott Olson/ Getty Images)

By Ashok Ramprasad Vision Times

ccording to a survey of purchasing managers released on Dec. 1, factory activity in November was affected by higher energy prices, longer lead times, supplier shortages, and record cost inflation. As a result, U.S. manufacturing activity registered its weakest growth in many months. In November 2021, the IHS Markit US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to 58.3, slightly lower than October’s final reading of 58.4 and below the preliminary estimate of 59.1. Economists had anticipated the gauge to move up from October, partly due to the fact that the projection for midmonth was greater.

According to companies, inflation was driven chiefly by higher prices for plastics, chemicals, and metals, accompanied by heftier transportation and freight costs.

Apprehensions over future supply

The PMI level is at its lowest level since December 2020. Despite being well above the 50 level, the PMI was boosted largely by the enhanced inventory building and another near-record increase of supplier lead times. The lengthening of lead times depicted a continuing supply shock. Inventory building often indicates apprehensions over future supply. According to U.S. manufacturers, the month of November witnessed an improvement in the rate of production amidst reports of a perpetual increase in new orders. However, the pace of growth was the secondslowest since September 2020. A scarcity of materials is apparently preventing a manufacturing revival. New sales growth continued to

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outdo production growth considerably, in spite of having slowed to an eleven-month low. The reason behind the increase was strong client demand and the intention of customers to stockpile, a number of companies stated. On the other hand, some firms said that customers also placed orders elsewhere due to supplier delays and material shortages. “Broad swathes of US manufacturing remain hamstrung by supply chain bottlenecks and difficulties filling staff vacancies. Although November brought

some signs of supply chain problems easing slightly to the lowest recorded for six months, widespread shortages of inputs meant production growth was again severely constrained to the extent that the survey is so far consistent with manufacturing acting as a drag on the economy during the fourth quarter,” Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said in a statement. The report attributed the steepest rise in input costs on record (since May 2007) to extreme delays in supply and shortages.

A portion of the General Motors Factory Zero, which will manufacture GMs GMC Hummer EV truck as well as other electric GM vehicles, is shown on Aug. 5, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan. Secretary Granholm is touring several manufacturing facilities in southeast Michigan to help promote the Biden administration's infrastructure proposal. US manufacturing has suffered due to inflation and high energy prices.

Biden’s Marxist Currency Comptroller Nominee Withdraws After Bipartisan Backlash Continued from FRONT

n a Dec. 7 statement by the President published to the White House website, Joe Biden said he accepted the withdrawal of Saule Omarova’s nomination to head the Office of the Comptroller (OCC) of the Currency. Biden remarked, “I nominated Saule because of her deep expertise in financial regulation and her longstanding, respected career in the private sector, the public sector, and as a leading academic in the field.” The OCC is a little-discussed branch of the Department of Treasury that manages all national banks and federally-licensed arms of foreign banks. Wikipedia estimates the OCC’s reach extends to two thirds of all assets owned by America’s banks, and puts the agency on par with the FDIC and Federal Reserve. The President claimed that Omarowww.visiontimes.com

va’s nomination was undermined by “inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale.” Saule Omarova. Omarova, (Image: JIM WATSON/Getty Images) a professor at Cornell Law School, began her fall from grace in late September when the Washington Free Beacon revealed she graduated from Moscow State University in 1989, was a recipient of a Marxist-themed scholarship titled the Lenin Personal Academic Scholarship, and penned her thesis with the conspicuous title Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital [Das Kapital]. The Beacon reported that Omarova scrubbed the thesis from the curriculum vitae provided to the U.S. Senate for her confirma-

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tion hearing despite its appearance in a version found available as recently as 2017. Shortly afterwards, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs wrote a letter to the nominee requesting a copy of the document, a request which Omarova never fulfilled. Biden continued in his statement to laud Omarova as “a strong advocate for consumers and a staunch defender of the safety and soundness of our financial system,” and claimed the leftist would have “brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people.”

A centralized banking advocate

Yet, the native of Kazakhstan was not under fire only for her openly communist leanings, but also for her expressed wishes to radically mutate the U.S. banking

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system and economy into a completely centralized and technocratic entity. In October of 2020, Saule Omarova published a paper titled The People’s Ledger: How to Democratize Money and Finance the Economy where she advocated for “redesigning the core architecture of modern finance” by eliminating all personal and business bank accounts, replacing the existing monetary system with one centralized in the hands of the Federal Reserve. She hailed the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as a pretext for “the issuance of central bank digital currency and the provision of retail deposit accounts by central banks” In the paper, Omarova stated that “The People’s Ledger” was the term she coined to encompass a radical change that would “redefine the role of a central bank as the ultimate public platform ad.ny@visiontimes.com

Resistance from consumers

With the intention of passing on increased costs to clients, there was a distinct rise in the selling prices of some products in November. Despite the rapid increase in input costs, the rate of charge inflation receded to a three-month low. Vendor performance simultaneously slumped by a large extent. Pre-production inventories grew at the fastest rate for three months and input buying by firms rose drastically as they sought to protect themselves against supplier price hikes, shortages, and delays in the future. However, issues with regard to refilling stocks of finished goods triggered a marked decline in post-production inventories since May last year. As firms attempt to pass on the higher costs, IHS Markit noted that they are facing resistance from consumers. In a sign that customers are stalling at rising prices, online sales on Cyber Monday dropped for the first time ever and holiday sales have fallen below expectations.

for generating, modulating, and allocating financial resources in a democratic economy.” The People’s Ledger would have seen the existing banking system be replaced by “FedAccounts,” which Omarova painted lipstick on as “represent[ing] an explicitly political—and consciously progressive—take on the traditionally technocratic proposals to issue central bank digital currency.” “Offering deposit accounts to individuals and entities will enable the Fed to modulate the aggregate supply of money and credit by directly crediting and debiting the accounts of all participants in economic activity, without interposing intermediary-banks,” stated the paper. While Omarova’s nomination was ardently and vehemently challenged by a wide array of Republicans, behind the scenes, Democrats such as Jon Tester (MT), Krysten Sienma (AZ), John Hickenlooper (CO), Mark Kelly (AZ), and Mark Warner (VA) worked to jettison the candidate as the 2022 midterm elections loom large, according to insider reports from outlets such as Axios.

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NATION

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DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021 |

Vaccine Passports for Kids Arrive in New York City According to Breitbart News, de Blasio worked to sell child vaccination to NYC parents, “We need you to step up for the good of your children, your family, all of us.”

By Neil Campbell Vision Times

new decree requiring all private sector businesses to mandate acceptance of a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine to staff has been issued by outgoing mayor Bill de Blasio. Additionally, children aged 5 to 11 will now be required to show their papers to enter restaurants and entertainment centers. The edict, characterized by de Blasio as a “preemptive strike” against the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, comes into effect on Dec. 27, according to Bloomberg. “We in New York City have decided to use a preemptive strike to really do something bold to stop the further growth of COVID and the dangers it’s causing to all of us,” he stated on MSNBC. Kids will have to show their vaxx pass confirming at least partial vaccination starting on Dec. 14. “De Blasio said the order would be issued by his health department and that the mandate is allowed under its legal authority,” reads the article. In a tweet issued from the Mayor’s account on Dec. 6, he claimed, “We’ve proven that with vaccine mandates and incentives, we can beat this virus.” de Blasio called his private sector mandate “another step towards the future” that would allow New York City to “save lives and move forward.” According to Breitbart News, de Blasio worked to sell child vaccination to NYC parents, “We need you to step up for the good of your children, your family, all of us.” The article also says vaccine passports for kids will also extend to what de Blasio

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characterized as “high-risk extracurricular activities,” such as band, sports, and orchestra. “This is something that is going to keep kids safe and families safe,” said the Mayor. “Go get your child vaccinated. As long as they’ve gotten that first dose by December 14, they can continue to participate [in] indoor dining, entertainment, all these great things.”

Codes and coercions

The Nuremberg Code is described by Wikipedia as “a set of research ethics principles for human experimentation created by the U.S. v Brandt court as one result of the Nuremberg trials at the end of the Second World War.” One of the key foundations of the Code is set out in the preamble, “The great weight of the evidence before us to effect that certain types of medical experiments on human

beings, when kept within reasonably welldefined bounds, conform to the ethics of the medical profession generally.” “The protagonists of the practice of human experimentation justify their views on the basis that such experiments yield results for the good of society that are unprocurable by other methods or means of study.” Item number one of the code states definitively that the matter of informed consent is paramount, “The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision.” Despite the reality that the Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca vaccines are all using novel gene therapy messenger RNA or viral vector technology, and that the 69 percent of New York State’s population that counts as fully vaccinated have been administered injection under a product granted only an Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA in advance of clearing extensive Phase 3 clinical trials which are still underway, many establishment media outlets have disputed or “fact checked” the applicability of the Code to today’s global vaccination campaign. Several countries, such as Israel, have violated this aspect of the Code when mandating that fully vaccinated status for their country’s vaccine passport expires six months after the date of last injection, resulting in a perpetual cycle of required booster injections to maintain social class.

American Heart Association Censored by Twitter for Sharing COVID-19 Vaccine Research By Jonathan Walker

he American Heart Association (AHA) is the latest victim of Twitter’s censorship policies, with one of its posts discussing the ill effects of COVID19 vaccines getting suppressed. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, AHA educates people on heart issues and was ranked as the 22nd largest charity in 2018 by Forbes magazine. Given such a prestigious standing, censoring AHA’s tweet has taken many by surprise.

Some fear that Agarwal could be more pro-censorship, making things more difficult for Twitter users. On Nov. 8, AHA published a research report on its platform that investigated the effects of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines on the body. The study found that the vaccine “dramatically” increases the risk of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). The research team had applied cardiac tests to measure patients’ risk of developing new acute coronary syndrome within five years. They found a 14 point increase in such risks among patients. “We conclude that the mRNA vacs dramatically increase inflammation on the endothelium and T cell infiltration of cardiac muscle and may account for the obserwww.visiontimes.com

vations of increased thrombosis, cardiomyopathy, and other vascular events following vaccination,” an abstract of the study states. Later, the AHA attached an “expression of concern” to the study in which the association warned that the report potentially contains errors.

The ‘unsafe’ warning message

AHA posted a link to the report on their Twitter account. The social media company quickly cracked down on the post, showing a warning message to users who click on the study link that it might be “unsafe” to visit the AHA website. Such designations are usually attached only to suspicious websites harboring malware and viruses. Twitter had recently extended the purview of the designation to “misleading content.” Twitter’s latest censorship crackdown comes as its CEO Jack Dorsey resigned from his post, allowing Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal to ascend as the new Chief Executive Officer. Some fear that Agarwal could be more pro-censorship, making things more difficult for Twitter users. In an interview with MIT Technology Review in November last year, Agarwal stated that one of the areas where Twitter’s role is emphasized is “who can be heard” and how the platform recommends content. “Our role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation and our moves are reflective of things that we believe lead to a healthier public conversation. The kinds of things that we do about this is, focus less on thinking about free speech, but thinking about how the times have changed,” Agarwal said.

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CHINA

A4 | DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021

VISION TIMES of film production and investment, tourism, concerts, restaurants, luxury goods, and auctions. Suncity’s VIP gaming room market dominance and Chau’s personal success would earn him the nickname, “Little King of Gamblers.” Chau is also widely believed to be part of “14K Triad,” Macau’s largest criminal organization. The period in which Chau rose to fame and fortune coincides with the CCP’s increased effort to influence and infiltrate Hong Kong and Macau in preparation for the return of both territories to the mainland and to better control them afterwards.

News analysis

The Dangerous Political Connections of Arrested

Through a combination of united front operations and intelligence networks, the CCP seeds or cultivates its agents or supporters in local businesses, social organizations, media, entertainment, triads, and other key sectors.

MACAU GAMBLING MOGUL ALVIN CHAU

By Larry Ong

n the early hours of Nov. 27, the Macau police arrested prominent local casino operator Alvin Chau and several others on charges of abetting cross-border gambling activities and money laundering. Days later, Chau, 47, resigned from all positions at his company Suncity Group, and the gambling group announced the closure of its VIP gaming rooms. At a glance, the arrest of Alvin Chau appears to be an extension of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign beyond mainland China and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “zero-tolerance” approach to gambling. Chau’s downfall also seems to be tangentially linked with Communist China’s effort to enhance economic discipline and more strictly regulate cross-border capital flows; Beijing is

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Alvin Chau .

(Image: Getty Images)

anticipating and making moves to curb capital flight when the U.S. Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy to deal with high inflation. However, Chau’s background and several details about his arrest suggest that Beijing’s move against him was influenced not chiefly by near-term developments, but by broader political considerations. For one, the Macau government noted in the announcement of Chau’s arrest that the mainland authorities had notified them

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Beijing then taps into these pro-communist elements to foist its will on Hong Kong and Macau society at crucial junctures such as local elections. Over the long-term, the CCP seeks to dye both semi-autonomous former colonies fully “red” in outlook and allegiance through its subversive elements. CCP operations and Alvin Chau’s background mark the latter as an agent of the state. Businesses and businessmen in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau cannot make it big without the backing of the Party elite, and Chau is unlikely to be an exemption to the norm. Chau’s triad membership and early successes in the gambling industry at a young age (late 20s to early 30s) suggest that the CCP had groomed him as an underground asset to control Macau society as it prepared for the transfer of the territory’s sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1999. Chau would later become a card-carrying united front operator with his election as a member of the Guangdong provincial Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 2013, as well as his participation and organization of various united front activities and groups in Macau. Suncity Group’s investment in socalled “main theme” CCP propaganda films also reveal Chau’s true colors. Chau’s company notably collaborated with government-linked Chinese film production company Bona Film Group on two “main theme” productions, namely, the 2016 film “Operation Mekong” and the 2018 film “Operation Red Sea.” “Operation Red Sea” was supported by the PLA Navy, while “Operation Mekong” was supported by the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLAC) and the Ministry of Public Security.

about his case in August 2019, leading them to launch a criminal investigation in April 2020. Further, Xi Jinping had personally issued instructions to crack down on cross-border gambling on at least six occasions in recent years, according to a June 2020 Xuchang city government work meeting report; during this period, public security minister Zhao Kezhi also took aim at online and cross-border gambling in public remarks. Finally, Chau’s patron-client ties with an influential Party faction that rivals Xi suggest that he could be taken in to facilitate purges in the lead up to the CCP’s critical leadership reshuffle conclave in late 2022.

Agent of the state

Alvin Chau started out in Macau’s gambling industry in 1994 and founded Suncity Group in 2007. Gambling aside, Suncity is in the business

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CHINA

VISION TIMES

DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021 |

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Dangerous Political Connections of Arrested Macau Gambling Mogul Alvin Chau

ship until a year before the end of Xi’s second term while escaping arrest is another sign that he is with the influential Jiang faction. As The Wall Street Journal reported in February, Jiang Zemin “remains a force behind the scenes” even though many of his allies have been purged in Xi’s anti-corruption campaign. Party insiders have affirmed Chau’s connection with the Jiang faction. Yuan Hongbing, a prominent Chinese dissident and jurist based in Australia, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that his Party insider friends in the Factional ties Macau system revealed that Chau is a Alvin Chau’s successful period “white glove” (bagman) and Macau in Macau also happens to corasset of Zeng Qinghong and forrespond to the era in which mer CPLAC chief Meng Jianthe faction of former Chizhu. “The purpose of arresting this ‘Little King of nese regime leader Jiang Zemin was dominant Gamblers’ is to destroy in the PRC, roughly the economic foundation of Jiang Zemin, Zeng between 1997 and the rise of Xi in 2012. Qinghong, Meng Jianzhu, In particular, leading memand others,” Yuan said. Chinese Presibers of the Zeng clan, a prince- dent Xi Jinping. ling family with sway over On the chopping block Getty Images As the 20th Party Congress intelligence networks and draws closer, Xi needs politithe Hong Kong and Macau apparatus, were running the show cal leverage over his factional rivals to secure a highly controversial when Chau was rapidly gaining in prominence in the early third term and ensure the 2000s. Zeng Qinghong, the appointment of his allies Jiang faction’s number to key posts. Xi Jinping has been two and Jiang Zemin’s political enabler, sat on targeting the Jiang facthe Politburo Standing tion all year long with Committee and headed crackdowns on the latthe Central Leading Group ter’s remaining strongholds Former on Hong Kong and Macau (tech, finance, entertainment, presidents Jiang Zemin Affairs from 2003 to 2007. His political and legal affairs appaGetty Images younger brother, Zeng Qinratus, etc.), personnel reshufghuai, was a special inspecfles, and the purging of senior tor of the PRC Ministry of Culture, domestic security officials associated a former commissioner of Hong with the faction and its notorious Kong’s culture ministry, and a persecution of the Falun Gong vice chairman of the China spiritual practice. Association for PromotAs a “bagman” of the ing Democracy. Jiang faction, Alvin The Zeng brothers’ Chau would know where the skeletons are hidportfolios gave them den. The investigation of substantial sway over Chau could furnish the Xi Hong Kong and Macau affairs, the entertainment Former Chinese leadership with incriminating Vice evidence to wield against the industry in both territories and on the mainland, as well President Zeng Jiang faction and other Party Qinghong as a degree of influence over elite who oppose Xi Jinping. Xi Getty Images overt (united front and gammay not move against his rivals bling) and covert (intelligence if they choose to play ball and and triads) CCP operations in Hong not challenge his third term bid and Kong and Macau. Alvin Chau and his other political actions. However, those businesses happen to sit at the inter- rivals could quickly find themselves section of various CCP operations on the chopping block if they are not that the Zeng brothers oversaw while chilled by Chau’s arrest and decide they were in office and almost cer- instead to oppose Xi to the bitter end. tainly retained influence over when they retired, which marks Chau as Larry Ong is a senior analyst with New a political client of the Jiang faction York-based political risk consultancy patronage network. SinoInsider. He was part of the SinoInThe fact that Chau continued to sider team that forecasted the 19th Party engage in corruption and other activ- Congress and 2018 Two Sessions personnel ities frowned upon by the Xi leader- reshuffles with a high degree of accuracy.

Continued from A4

Apple CEO Tim Cook Brokered Confidential Deal with China Worth $275 Billion Quid pro quo

By Victor Westerkamp Vision Times

Meanwhile, Apple promised, “to strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations.” The corporation has since invested “many billions of dollars more” in Chinese software companies, “the most advanced manufacturing technologies,” retail stores, and sustainable energy projects. China, in turn, provided the “necessary support and assistance.” At the same time, Apple pledged to collaborate with Chinese software businesses, cooperate on technology with Chinese institutes and directly sponsor Chinese tech enterprises. Furthermore, the company said it would utilize more components from Chinese producers in its gadgets and engage more in business deals and “support the training of high-quality Chinese talents,” the report said. Apple’s $1 billion injections into Didi Global, the popular Chinese ridehailing service, in 2016 was to “mollify authorities,” and was intended to soothe Beijing’s scorn over Apple’s assumed negligence, the report said.

pple CEO Tim Cook agreed to Invest $275 billion in China in return for unlimited access to the Chinese market, a report citing interviews and documents reveals. The report, published by The Information details how Cook’s team made several visits to China in 2016 to stave off impending restrictions against the company after Chinese officials shut down iTunes’ book and movie distribution in April 2016. In addition, iCloud, the App Store, and Apple Pay were all under threat after Chinese officials determined Apple had been too negligent and “too arrogant” in its commitments to China.

Cook quick to respond

Cook, accompanied by several other high-profile executives, was quick to respond to the Chinese authority’s complaints and set out on a mission to strike a multi-billion dollar deal in investments. On different occasions, Cook met with several representatives of China’s potent economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission. A key instrument utilized to broker the deal was a 1,250-word memorandum of understanding forged by Apple’s government affairs team championed by Cook. The initiative turned out to have “helped Apple rejuvenate its tattered ties with the Chinese government.” A deal was negotiated that included a five-year agreement that would have expired earlier this year but had an automatic one-year extension option in case of mutual satisfaction.

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Sales taking off

The deal seemed to have paid off. Since then, Apple’s products, services, and revenues have sky-rocketed, and China has become Apple’s second-largest market after the U.S. for the first time in six years. The company saw an annual sales growth of 83 percent in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, posting a record $68 billion in revenue. China is now responsible for some 20 percent of Apple’s total sales. Much of the company’s success is attributed to Cook’s personal moderation. So much so that analysts fear another ice age in the case that Cook steps down.

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WORLD

A6 | DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021

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US Officially Announces Diplomatic Boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Continued from FRONT

Without Natural Immunity, Omicron Reduces Pfizer Jab Efficacy 41 Fold: Study By Neil Campbell Vision Times

indings in a new study published by an extensive team of South African researchers, including participants from Washington, Germany, Australia, and the UK, show the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), reduces the efficacy of Pfizer’s messenger RNA vaccine by a factor of 41 in fully vaccinated individuals who do not also have natural immunity. The findings were published on the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) website on Dec. 7. While the Institute notes the research has been submitted as a preprint to the medRxiv server, the study does not yet appear in the server’s search function. A copy of the paper is provided on AHRI’s website. The study set out to answer two main questions arising from Omicron’s extensive spike protein mutations and additional receptor binding domain and S2 mutations, namely, whether the spike mutations will “have considerable escape from vaccine elicited immunity” and whether the binding domain and S2 mutations could be “predicted to impact transmissibility and affinity for ACE-2.” Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptors are the primary path both original SARS and SARS-CoV-2 use to enter and infect human cells. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the mechanism is also prevalent in the infection of animals. In humans, ACE-2 receptors are most prevalent in the lungs and small intestines. The study discloses it received funding through grant monies from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, in addition to two South African entities. The BMGF is both a shareholder in Pfizer and extended a “Committed Grant” to the company in the sum of more than $17 million USD in 2016 to “support development of a Group B streptococcus (GBS) vaccine for developing country access.” Notably, in August the Foundation also provided a Committed Grant for almost $588,000 USD to Johannesburg-based Wits Health Consortium to “evaluate the effectiveness of Pfizer and J&J SARSCoV-2 vaccines against laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalisation among risk groups targeted for vaccination.” Additionally, the AHRI website notes itself as a member of the Wellcome Programme, which is part of the Wellcome Trust. June 6 reporting by investigative journalist team Unlimited Hangout described Wellcome Trust as an entity that has “arguably been second only to

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Bill Gates in its ability to influence events during the COVID-19 crisis and vaccination campaign.” The extensive writeup chronicles the Trust’s creation of what author Whitney Webb describes as a “global health DARPA,” known as Wellcome Leap, an initiative that is host to pursuits such as engineering man-machine hybrid organs, extensive brain research on newborn children, the creation of a “tissue time machine,” and total genetic surveillance in the name of treating depression.

Findings

Firstly, the study, by comparing Omicron infection cultures between normal human cells and “a human lung cell line clone (H1299-ACE2) engineered to express the ACE2 receptor,” confirmed that despite Omicron’s receptor binding domain and S2 mutations, the variant still requires ACE-2 in order to enter human cells and begin the process of infection.

The study was able to estimate a GMT figure of 1321 for vanilla COVID versus 32 for Omicron, an efficacy reduction calculated out to 41.4 fold by the study using the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test.

A preprint study published by South African researchers with funding by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the NIH found Omicron very significantly evades the Pfizer vaccine in those who do not have previous natural exposure.

Second, using the 14 plasma samples, researchers calculated the quantity of geometric mean titers (GMT) in the FRNT50 reciprocal plasma dilution required to reach a 50 percent reduction in infection foci, and compared these results between Omicron and the vanilla mutation that transformed original SARS into SARS-CoV-2. Researchers noted that while Omicron’s apparent ability to escape Pfizer vaccine antibodies was startling, they framed the matter in the context that “escape was

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incomplete” because “5 of the participants, all previously infected,” showed “relatively high neutralization titers with Omicron.” The study did not elaborate further on the GMT figures for the 5 of 6 test subjects with natural immunity who displayed this phenomenon.

Light and context

A well known August preprint study from Israel may provide significant underlying context for the findings. The study examined anonymized health records from one of the country’s four mandatory healthcare providers, and found that takers of the Pfizer vaccine were at 27 times greater risk of symptomatic breakthrough infection than the unvaccinated with natural immunity were for reinfection. Raw data in this segment was compelling: • 46,035 matches • 748 SARS-CoV-2 positive PCR tests • 640 breakthrough tests in the vaccinated group • 108 reinfected tests in the previously infected group • 552 SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infections • 484 symptomatic breakthroughs in the vaccinated group • 68 symptomatic reinfections in the previously infected group • 21 vaccinated group hospitalizations • 4 previously infected group hospitalizations • 0 deaths However, the study also conducted a third set of data analysis, comparing the outcomes of those with previous infection only versus those with natural immunity and a single booster of Pfizer’s vaccine. The results of the comparison were better for the group who accepted a booster, albeit barely. The study found only a 0.53 times difference between the two groups for reinfection and stated that “we could not demonstrate significance in our cohort.” Raw data for the natural immunity versus booster comparison was as follows: • 14,029 matches • 57 SARS-CoV-2 positive PCR tests • 37 reinfected tests in the previously infected group • 20 reinfected tests in the previously infected and vaccinated group • 39 SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infections • 23 symptomatic reinfections in the previously infected group • 16 symptomatic reinfections in the previously infected and vaccinated group • 1 previously infected group hospitalization • 0 previously infected and vaccinated group hospitalization • 0 deaths 212-730-6963

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“U.S. diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang, and we simply can’t do that… As the president has told President Xi, standing up for human rights is in the DNA of Americans, we have a fundamental commitment to promote human rights,” White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said in a press briefing on Dec. 6. Psaki said that American athletes have the country’s “full support.” The administration did not want to prevent athletes from competing at the games but still wanted to indicate its displeasure with China’s atrocities, which eventually resulted in the diplomatic boycott, the press secretary said.

International Olympic Committee ‘fully respects’ decision

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated that it “fully respects” the decision taken by the White House. In a statement, the organization said that the presence of government diplomats is a “purely political decision” and that the IOC is a politically neutral entity. It also praised Washington’s decision to allow U.S. athletes to participate in the games, indicating that “athletes are beyond politics.” Nury Turkel, the Vice-Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, pointed out that a “genocidal regime” should not even have been granted the privilege to host the Olympics in the first place. He highlighted Beijing’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims, Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners. Some have criticized the diplomatic boycott as not being enough and are calling for a complete boycott. Republican Representative Mike Gallagher is one such lawmaker insisting on such a path. China has reacted sharply to the boycott. The Foreign Ministry vowed to take “resolute countermeasures” and stated that it has launched “solemn representation” with the *United States. Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that the U.S. boycott undermined the “foundation and atmosphere” of Olympic cooperation and China-U.S. sports exchanges. He accused Washington of attempting to disrupt the Winter Olympics out of ideological bias based on rumors and lies.

White House press secretary, Jen Psaki. 703-868-1509

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DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021 |

China Eyeing First Atlantic Military Base in Africa

US Energy Information Administration

Continued from A1 Strategic access

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, these sea lanes are extremely critical to global energy security and transportation. Any maritime threat in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could divert the globe’s tanker traffic from two 2-mile-wide channels around the tip of Africa, causing massive blockages.

The planned port would be so sizable that it would be capable of storing aircraft carriers and even submarines within its base. General Stephen Townsend

The latest move from Beijing has sparked security concerns for the U.S. navy, placing Washington on high alert. Top commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) General Stephen Townsend told The Associated Press in an interview

that the “Chinese naval base on Africa’s Atlantic coast concerns me greatly.” The planned port would be so sizable that it would be capable of storing aircraft carriers and even submarines within its base, General Stephen Townsend said. The Chinese government has also approached several other African nations from Mauritania to the south of Namibia, with the intent of establishing naval facilities to base warships in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Its first military base in Djibouti, was set up less than 10 miles from Camp Lemonnier, the largest U.S. defense base in Africa. It was also the first strategically located facility that hosted attack helicopters and armored combat vehicles. Townsend suggested that Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh may have agreed to Beijing’s 2017 Djibouti establishment because of “debt-trap diplomacy,” and said the base could now be “turning into a platform to project power across the continent and its waters in order to grow its military footprint.” But China hasn’t stopped its expansion efforts. The PLAN has been persistently looking for other basing opportunities [around Africa] for a “strategic strongpoint,” hoping to conduct anti-piracy operations in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and

Will China Benefit From America Abandoning Bagram Air Base?

A view of Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan from the Air Traffic Control Tower's catwalk in 2007. (Image : U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Craig Seals)

By Jonathan Walker

Vision Times

hen the Biden administration ended America’s military presence in Afghanistan, it also abandoned the Bagram air base located in the country. Many security experts have criticized the decision, pointing out that the base might have been a significant asset for the United States in its war against terror. In an interview with The Epoch Times, Dan Steiner, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and global strategist, stated that the base would have allowed Washington to counter Chinese expansion in the region. Recent reports suggest that China is building three missile silo sites in cities located in Western China. If Washington had maintained the Bagram airbase under its control, it would have proven to be of “strategic advantage” in keeping an eye on these sites. With the United States out of Afghanistan, Beijing will try its best to keep Washington out permanently. www.visiontimes.com

the 18-mile wide Bab-el-Mandeb or “Gate of Tears,” a strait between Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula. According to the Chinese government, the Doraleh Multipurpose Port in Djibouti is within the International Free Trade Zone, and was set up on the pretense of ramping up “Chinese peacekeeping efforts, anti-piracy missions, and maintaining peace and stability in Africa.” In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping kicked off a week-long China-Africa

Peace and Security Forum with African defense ministers and military chiefs. The virtual conference was reportedly to facilitate a dialogue on cooperation, peace, and security funding in the Horn of Africa. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a daily briefing on Nov. 30 that Beijing’s presence in Africa “features sincere friendship and equality” and “is a win-win for mutual benefit and common development” in line with the Communist Party’s vision of a “community of shared future for mankind.”

“To prevent the United States from finding an excuse to return to Afghanistan to reoccupy an airbase that is so strategically close to the Chinese regime’s nuclear weapons program... it’s not out of the question for the Chinese communists to want a footprint at this location sooner than later.”Steiner said. An ideal scenario for the CCP to occupy the base would be to develop Bagram as a transportation hub. Beijing has already used the tactic at Pakistan’s Gwadar Port. Though the Maritime Secretary of Pakistan has administrative control of the port, it is actually operated by China Overseas Port Holding. Beijing can also use the excuse of a terror threat to Bagram and Western China to take control of the airbase either directly or indirectly. According to retired Brigadier General Don Bolduc, who served ten tours with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2013, China is also eyeing the “big business” opportunity provided by Afghanistan’s rich mineral deposits. The “less sophisticated, less bureaucratic government” of the Taliban would play to the advantage of Beijing. Afghanistan is estimated to contain around $1 to $3 trillion worth of mineral deposits, including rare earths like neodymium, lanthanum, cerium, and other metals like gold, aluminum, and lithium. The minerals in Afghanistan form a critical component of many of today’s tech products. Having access to these deposits will only strengthen China’s hold over the rare earths market globally.

In an interview with CNBC in August, Shamaila Khan, director of emerging market debt at AllianceBernstein, stated that the Taliban’s access to Afghanistan’s resources is a “very dangerous proposition” for the world. “It should be an international initiative to make sure that if any country is agreeing to exploit its minerals on behalf of the Taliban, to only do it under strict humanitarian conditions where human rights, and rights for women are preserved in the situation,” Khan stated. Steiner notes that Washington’s negotiations with the Taliban should have pushed for retaining control at Bagram, akin to the arrangement the United States has in Iraq and northern Syria. This was the only way to ensure that the Taliban would not go back to its original ways and that Afghanistan would once again not end up being a haven for terrorists, he says. In a recent interview with Fox News, former President Donald Trump revealed that he did not intend to hand over the airbase to the Taliban. “We would have kept Bagram because it is next to China… And it is one hour away from their nuclear facility, and we gave that up too… And now China’s going to take over Bagram, in my opinion,” Trump said. The Biden administration removed all American forces from Bagram in July. In August, the Taliban freed thousands of ISISK prisoners who were being held at the airbase.

To prevent the United States from finding an excuse to return to Afghanistan to reoccupy an airbase that is so strategically close to the Chinese regime’s nuclear weapons program… it’s not out of the question for the Chinese communists to want a footprint at this location sooner than later,” Dan Steiner, retired Air Force colonel

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A8 | DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021

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Snow White THE TRUE STORY BEHIND

the Seven Dwarfs

By Simone Jonker

(Image:Alexander Zick/Wikimedia)

t takes a talented storyteller to weave together a fairytale that captivates, mystifies, and uplifts. To assist youngsters in better dealing with life’s challenges and paradoxes, stories create lasting impressions that they may intuitively recall as they grow up. Folk tales and myths are often based on actual people and events and are meant to be an accurate depiction of everyday life in the society in which they were written. Many true stories can be horrifying, and include torture, murder, and other heinous acts. As they are passed down orally from generation to generation, some components change over time, blurring the original storyline and turning them into fairy tales.

The Brothers Grimm Known for their work in fairy tales, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm were nineteenth-century professors who gathered stories from middle-class housewives, acquaintances, and even peasants before transferring them to printed text. To sell books, writers had to soften the harsh realities and make them more palatable. By studying classic tales, notably those of French master storyteller Charles Perrault, the brothers developed a style and a voice that the world embraced. Grimm’s Fairy Tales ranks as perhaps the most influential collection of European folklore ever published and has been translated into many languages. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a classic fairy tale based on oral traditions, in which morals and principles were often forgotten, more so than the

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Disney’s first animated feature, originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on February 8, 1938.

events themselves; yet they maintained the universal principle that good is rewarded and evil is punished; giving the righteous a glimmer of hope no matter how hopeless the situation may seem.

Disney’s Snow White The movie starts with the opening of a book: “Once upon a time, there lived a lovely little princess named Snow White.” Snow White’s stepmother (the queen) worried that Snow White’s beauty might one day surpass her own. So she dressed her in rags and had the princess serve as a scullery maid. Each day the vain Queen consulted her mirror: ‘Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?’ As long as the mirror replied that she was the fairest, Snow White was safe from the queen’s cruel jealousy. One day when the queen asks the mirror, ‘Who is the fairest one of all?’ The mirror replied: ‘Famed is thy beauty, Majesty. But behold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is fairer than thee.’

The Queen asks the name of her rival, and the magic mirror says: “Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.” The queen then knows it’s Snow White! She instructs a huntsman to bring her Snow White’s heart. Thanks to the huntsman’s compassion, Snow White escapes and is hidden by the seven dwarfs in their woodland house. The queen consults the mirror again: ‘Magic Mirror on the wall, who is now the fairest of all? The mirror responds, ‘Over the seventh jeweled hills, beyond the seventh fall, resides Snow White, the fairest of them all.’ (Image: Hans Makart/Wikimedia)

(Image:Alexander Hoernigk/Wikimedia)

(Image:Ludwig Emil Grimm/Wikimedia)

The Brothers Grimm, authors of perhaps the most influential collection of European folklore, which they collected from various oral sources and refined. www.visiontimes.com

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm lived in this house in Steinau from 1791 to 1796. subscription@visiontimes.com

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The fable's antagonist the Evil Queen with the protagonist Snow White as depicted in The Sleeping Snow White by Hans Makart.

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The wicked queen may be based on Katharina von Hatzfeld, stepmother to the lovely young Margarete von Waldeck. Pictured here, Katharina was not fond of her stepdaughter, yet whether she tried or not, she did not succeed in killing her, as was the first to die.

(Image:Hermann tom Ring /Wikimedia)

Wild with jealousy, the Queen transforms herself into an old woman peddler and travels to Snow White’s woodland hut, luring her with a “wishing apple.” Snow White eats the poisoned fruit and falls into a coma. The dwarfs take turns watching over her in a glass casket. A handsome prince passing by sees Snow White and falls in love… The Prince leans in for love’s first kiss and…the spell is broken. There is no doubt that “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” is fiction; yet recent research has shown that the ancient fairy tale may be based on one of, or a combination of, two similar life stories.

Maria Sophia von Erthal Snow White is widely believed to have been inspired by Maria Sophia von Erthal. She was born in Lohr Bamberg, Main, about 100kms west of Bamberg, in southern Germany on June 25, 1725. The story revolves around a beautiful young girl who was raised in a castle. While she wasn’t technically a princess, Maria Sophia was described in family memoirs as “an angel of mercy and kindness” and remembered in the hearts of the people “for being “charitable towards the poor and the suffering.” Her father, Philipp Christoph von und zu Erthal, was the Prince Elector of Mainz’s local representative. Following the death of Maria Sophia’s birth mother in 1738, her father remarried. Claudia Elisabeth von Reichenstein, the stepmother, was the dominating force in the castle and used her newfound power to the benefit of her children from her previous marriage. According to tradition, Von Erthal presented his bride with a spectacular gift shortly before their marriage: a “magic mirror.” It stood 1.6 meters tall and was adorned with elaborate carvings and ornaments. The mirror, which can still be viewed today in the Spessart Museum at the Lohr Castle, Stuttgart, where Maria Sophia’s stepmother resided, is known as “The Talking Mirror.” . The mirror was created around

(Image:Otto Kubel/Wikimedia)

1720 by von Erthal’s own firm “Mirror Manufacture,” in Germany. Interestingly, the museum’s mirror is inscribed “Amour propre” (French for “pride”) Maria Sophia’s life was under the constant scrutiny of her tyrannical stepmother, but it was nothing like what the fairy tale portrays. Although there is no evidence that a huntsman attempted to murder Maria Sophia, it is clear that her life would not have been easy. Presumably, the hard reality of life for Maria Sophia under this woman was recast as a fairy story by the Brothers Grimm. It is not known whether or not there were any dwarfs in her life at the time, but there were the nearby Beiber mines, which reportedly only employed “small statured males.” The frightening woodland that appears in the fairy tale is said to be based on a forest on the outskirts of Lohr, which was known to be home to wild animals and wouldbe thieves who waited for unsuspecting victims to wander off the path. Snow White is said to have run through seven hills before reaching the seven dwarf’s hut in the Brothers Grimm’s story; the dwarfs worked in a mine, and in reality there is an abandoned mine outside Lohr which may be reached by trekking over seven hills. For those interested in the origins of the poisoned apple, Lohr has a large number of orchards, and Maria was said to be able to identify the plant from which the alleged poison may have originated: deadly nightshade, or Atropa belladonna. However, the real Maria Sophia died in 1796 at the age of 71 in a convent. If there was a prince who saved her from poisoning in her youth, he is missing from this account. She is buried at Bamberg, just 50km away from where the Brothers Grimm lived, according to museum director Holger Kempkens.

The mirror, which can still be viewed today in the Spessart Museum at the Lohr Castle, Stuttgart, where Maria Sophia’s stepmother resided, is known as “The Talking Mirror.”

(Image:Franz Jüttner /Wikimedia)

Margarete Von Waldeck It’s said In his 1994 book Schneewittchen: Marchen or Wahrheit? (Snow White: Is it a Fairy Tale?), German academic Eckhard Sander claims Snow White was modeled on Margarete Von Waldeck, a 16th-century Bavarian noblewoman. In 1549, Katharina of Hatzfeld, Margarete’s stepmother, compelled the sixteen-year-old, who was described as strikingly beautiful, to relocate to Wildungen, Brussels. After meeting Prince Philip II of Spain, she became his mistress, much to her stepmother’s displeasure and dismay. Apparently, the prospect of Margarete becoming a princess was too much for both her interfering stepmother and Philip’s father, the king of Spain, who considered a marriage between the two as politically undesirable. Spanish spies were arranged to poison the young beauty and put an end to the romance. The use of poison to eliminate Margaret is corroborated by the testament she made just before her death, written in frantic handwriting, displaying indications of poisoning death. While it is uncertain whether von Waldeck was poisoned or murdered, her stepmother was not directly responsible, since she died before the girl. The parallels between Margarete von Waldeck’s life and the myth of Snow White, include not only her remarkable beauty, the jealous stepmother, and the poisoning death; Margarete grew up in Bad Wildungen, where her brother operated a copper mine staffed by starving children, who were nicknamed “dwarfs.” (Image:Walt Disney /Wikimedia)

The seven dwarves, who may have been based on real, small-statured miners, are pictured in this 1937 Trailer screenshot. www.visiontimes.com

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CULTURE

A10 | DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021

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THE CHARM OF CHINESE CHOPSTICKS T h e C h i n e s e - i n ve n te d c h o p s t i c ks h a ve b e c o m e o n e o f t h e wo r l d ’s m o s t p o p u l a r a n d e s s e n t i a l ea t i n g to o l s . S t a t i s t i c s e s t i m a te ove r 1 . 5 b i l l i o n i n d i v i d u a l s wo r l d w i d e u s e c h o p s t i c ks d a i l y. By Simone Jonker

hey are the most commonly used utensils in four Asian countries; China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The Eastern spirit is said to be found in every interaction among people. It has been recounted that once while dining at a restaurant in China the host held up a chopstick and asked, “Does this have a spirit?” to which everybody said, “yes.” In examining the merits of cutlery, we find that, if one is skilled with their chopsticks, they can do many things that a fork cannot. Lifting without puncturing is a plus, for one thing; and gripping rather than carrying leaves less room for droppage.

Chopsticks “箸” as a cultural symbol While the earliest known textual mention of chopsticks is from a philosophical document dated 280–233 BC, ancient bone chopsticks from the Neolithic period were discovered in Longqiuzhuang Village, Jiangsu Province, that were over 7,000 years old. Chinese folklore tells of a time in antiquity when all Chinese people ate with their hands. One legend tells that there was a boy named Kuai (Quick.) He was the youngest of three boys, but he was never quick enough to grab some nourishment before his brothers. In desperation born of hunger, he pulled two sticks from the kindling pile and used them to spear chunks of steamed vegetables. His family members immediately copied the tools and named them Kuai zi (quick ones.) The Mandarin word for chopsticks is written as 筷子 (kuai zi), which sounds the same as the words 快子, which also means the quick advent of a son. It can also be interpreted as “have a son quickly,” so chopsticks are readily accepted as wedding gifts. These small and useful Chinese icons are often beautifully painted by artists and then collected the world over. Chopsticks have also been used as fashion accessories, with upper class ladies historically adorning their complex hairstyles with silver or gold chopsticks.

Chopsticks compared with other cutlery While it is readily understood that the Chinese invented the chopstick, many do not realize that they also invented the fork! Utensils similar to modern forks and knives, often made of bone, have been discovered dating back to around 2000 BC). If both forks and chopsticks were available in ancient China, one might wonder why the chopstick came out on top? It is likely that the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius steered Chinese dining customs toward

chopsticks, with his outright disdain of knives. The avid vegetarian was quoted as saying, “The honourable and upright man keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse and the kitchen. And he allows no knives on his table.” Thus, Chinese food comes to the table ready to be consumed without any need for “barbaric” cutting. In examining the merits of cutlery, we find that, if one is skilled with their chopsticks, they can do many things that a fork cannot. Lifting without puncturing is a plus, for one thing; and gripping rather than carrying leaves less room for droppage. In addition, the

pinching movement can not only be used to grasp a food, but also to pull it apart. A fork could never be so exacting as to pick up a single grain of rice, but two chopsticks can pick up just about anything small enough to eat. Wood, bamboo, metal, bone, stone, and compound chopsticks are all types of materials used for chopsticks. Chinese chopsticks are generally long, up to 10 inches. Japanese chopsticks can be as short as 8 inches, while Korean and Vietnamese chopsticks are medium sized. It is customary for Chinese to share a large table of food, and long chopsticks make it simpler to reach.

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Using chopsticks

If you haven’t already mastered the art of eating with chopsticks, the following video will be helpful.

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Using chopsticks requires more than 30 joints and 50 muscles in the fingers and wrist, arm, and shoulder, along with thousands of nerves. It is a skill that requires practice, and proper holding technique. Although it may not come naturally at first, don’t despair. Remember that Asian children as young as three years old can tackle chopsticks, and you can too. The fear of chopsticks is called “Consecotaleophobia.” Don’t be consecotaleophobic! Using chopsticks requires focus and brain power, so you could regard this as a worthy educational exercise. Also, eating naturally takes a bit longer when using chopsticks, which usually results in recognizing the feeling of fullness before it is too late, as is often the case when people eat too fast. Thus, chopsticks may help you maintain a healthy weight. Aside: According to ancient Korean superstition, the closer to the tips one holds one’s chopsticks, the longer one will remain unmarried.

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Chinese Etiquette When invited to a Chinese dinner, it would be good to remember the following rules of etiquette:

Do not

tap your chopsticks on the edge of your bowl (beggars often do this to attract attention).

Do not make pointing motions

with your chopsticks. It is considered as rude as pointing at someone with your finger.

Do not put chopsticks ver-

tically into a bowl of rice. This resembles incense offerings to the dead and thus has unpleasant connotations.

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Leave your chopsticks on top

of the bowl when you’re finished, and on the side if you’re taking a break. The host will understand without verbal communication.

When everyone is seated, let

the elderly take their chopsticks first. This is a basic sign of respect.

When it comes to the din-

ner table, traditional Chinese children are taught to serve others first by taking food from the communal dishes and putting it on their elders’ plates as a sign of reverence. Consequently, Chinese people do not hesitate to serve others at social dining events, much to the puzzlement of non– Chinese guests.

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Heaven and Hell There is a Chinese folk story about the difference between Heaven and Hell. In Hell, everyone’s arms are much shorter than normal. They are seated around tables piled high with delectable fare, yet they are miserable because they are unable to get the food into their mouths, since the chopsticks are too long and their arms are too short. While everyone in Heaven also has short arms and long chopsticks, they are lighthearted, and having a wonderful time at the feast; because they are feeding each other. Ila Bonczek contributed to this report.

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DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021 |

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Medicinal properties While traditional Maori medicine was previously aware of its therapeutic properties, Peter Molan, a Waikato professor, discovered mānuka honey’s exceptional antibacterial qualities in 1980 and devised the UMF (or Unique Mānuka Factor) grade. The non-peroxide activity (NPA) of the honey is determined by the UMF rating. In other words, it is the antimicrobial component of mānuka honey that distinguishes it from other types of honey. All natural honey has long been recognized to possess antibacterial characteristics. The low pH and presence of bacteriostatic and bactericidal chemicals found in many kinds of honey are thought to be healing and curative. Honey’s “peroxide” action is attributed to the presence of hydrogen peroxide, antioxidants, lysozyme, polyphenols, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and bee peptides. Von Eaton said, “All honey produces hydrogen peroxide when diluted. Only mānuka honey, however, also contains those extra substances that allow it to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria commonly found in chronic wounds, bed sores and leg ulcers.” Mānuka honey from New Zealand is currently being utilized medically because it seems to have the greatest therapeutic qualities of any honey. It has even been shown to cure MRSA Staph infections when medicines have failed.

The busy producers Mānuka honey is generated by European honey bees (Apis mellifera), introduced to New Zealand nearly 200 years ago. The delicate mānuka flower bloom time lasts 2-6 weeks, with a peak in the middle of December (the beginning of Summer in New Zealand.) “The plant itself is very rare. It’s difficult to harvest because the flower is only open for 12 days, and sometimes we have to use helicopters to collect this honey.” John Rawcliffe from the Mānuka Factor Honey Association told Business Insider.

Additionally, it takes bees around 22,700 separate visits to the Mānuka Flowers to collect enough nectar to produce one 17.6 oz of mānuka honey.

Flowers “listen”

This is due to the rarity of the bloom and the difficult-to-reach locations where mānuka shrubs naturally thrive, which makes mānuka honey a time-consuming process. One bee can only gather enough nectar to make 15 teaspoons of honey in its lifespan. The colony-building insects were first brought to the Southern Hemisphere in 1839 by Mary Bumby, an English beekeeper and sister of a Methodist missionary who oversaw the growth of the entire enterprise following their arrival. On a six-month journey from England to New Zealand, she was able to maintain her two skeps [woven baskets] of honey bees alive, according to author Cliff Van Eaton, who wrote Mānuka: The Biography of an Extraordinary Honey. “That was no mean feat, since skep beehives are much more difficult to maintain and keep alive than hives in the moveable frame equipment that we know today.” Her apiary was set up in the low-lying areas around the mission, and along the eastern coast of the North Island, where mānuka trees were abundant. There is compelling evidence to suggest that mānuka was the source of the first honey produced in New Zealand.

Watch out for fake manuka honey

Mānuka honey is a huge commodity in many sectors and continues to expand. This amazing honey is also utilized in cuisine, and skincare. However, fake mānuka honey has been an issue from the beginning, with extensive research and testing done on batches to ensure their validity. Some honey producers might use an MG (most genuine) or MGO rating. Honey without a UMF or MG/ MGO rating is generally low-grade. The majority of mānuka-labeled www.visiontimes.com

A11

The mānuka blossom is delicate and sensitive to temperature, moisture, and wind. Urbanization and agriculture have pushed the formerly abundant mānuka bush into remote regions. Being away from pesticides, herbicides, and other human interaction keeps the mānuka flower, bee colonies, and mānuka honey healthy and GMO-free. Mānuka honey is ‘monofloral,’ created from the nectar of the mānuka flower alone. Introducing colonies at the right time and place may encourage bees to harvest the mānuka flower, which is not easily controlled. Aside from pollinating the mānuka flower, bees pollinate many other flowers, resulting in ‘multi floral’ mānuka honey. This kind of honey has fewer active chemicals than monofloral mānuka and therefore does not get a UMF ranking. According to recent research from Israel, flowers are competitive amongst each other. It is possible for them to detect the vibrations of bees’ wings and react by momentarily sweetening their nectar in order to attract pollinating insects. In order to preserve their genetic heritage, flowers have evolved the ability to filter out extraneous ‘noise,’ such as wind and other environmental factors. Mānuka blossoms, like other flowers, may be “listening” for the bees that they rely on for pollination.

By Simone Jonker

he term mānuka is the Maori name for the Leptospermum shrub, a member of the Myrtacaea family which is generally referred to as a “tea tree,” not to be confused with Melaleuca, the Australian tea tree, from which tea tree oil is produced. Because of its remarkable antibacterial properties, this rare honey has piqued the attention of health-conscious aficionados.

Although mānuka can also be found in Australia, New Zealand accounts for almost all the world’s production, with exports worth 300 million NZ dollars ($204m), expected to rise to 1.2 billion NZ ($800m) by 2028.

honey tested in the United Kingdom between 2011 and 2013 lacked the non-peroxide antimicrobial action of mānuka honey, according to government agency testing conducted between 2011 and 2013. In the same way, 43 out of 73 samples tested by the UMFHA in the United Kingdom, China, and Singapore in 2012– 13 came back negative. According to the results of separate UMFHA testing conducted in Hong Kong, 14 out of 56 mānuka honey samples tested were contaminated with syrup.

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It may be difficult to determine whether or not you are receiving what you have paid for. Authentic mānuka honey, according to the UMF Honey Association (Unique Mānuka Factor) Honey Association, should meet all five of the following criteria: 1. The UMF stamp is prominently displayed on the front label of the product. 2. It is packed in jars that are identified as being from New Zealand. 3. It comes from a New Zealand busi212-730-6963

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ness that has been granted permission to use the name UMF. 4. On the front label, you may find the name of the UMF licensee. 5. The label has been assigned a UMF5 or above grade. One should not let the presence of fake honey discourage you from seeking out the finest honey. Although difficult, obtaining a tasty, nutritious jar of nature’s gold nectar – pure mānuka honey – is not impossible. With the right information and perseverance, you will not have any difficulties in your search.

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A12 | DEC 10 - DEC 16, 2021

HEALTH

VISION TIMES

It is believed that the higher a person’s vibrational frequency, the closer one is to truth, and the more universal wisdom one will be able to perceive. (Image:Adobe Stock)

monks’ gamma waves emitted by their brains with an electroencephalograph (EEG.) As a control, a group of 10 students with no previous meditation experience was also tested. Davidson discovered that several of the monks generated gamma waves that were not only unlike any other recorded example, but were also more ordered than the non-meditating test subjects. According to the Institute of HeartMath, research has shown the pattern of your heart rhythm reflects the state of your emotions and nervous system dynamics. If you choose positive feelings and thoughts, such as love and appreciation, your heart rhythm is more harmonious and smooth. Studies have also linked meditation to healthier arteries and improved blood flow to the heart. For a healthy (physical and emotional) heart, allow it to be a wellspring of compassion. Don’t be afraid to open up to happiness, laughter, and gratitude. Physical exercise like dancing is beneficial for the soul, and may help one let go of fears and troubles. Besides consuming nutritious food, spend time outdoors, and be present with your loved ones. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals, and if you have pets, play with them. Dogs and cats are said to have high vibrational levels. It is believed that the higher a person’s vibrational frequency, the closer one is to truth, and the more universal wisdom one will be able to perceive. While you may have forgotten about your heart’s grand wish, you still know deep down what you have yearned for most of your life. That wish represents the wisdom of your heart, and your heart can bring about its fulfillment.

the Mysteries of the Human Heart By Simone Jonker

hen we consider the mysteries of the human heart, it can be said that a person is equipped with not just one heart. We have both a physical heart, and an emotional heart; and then there is also a mind-and-heart connection. One’s physical heart is the cardiac muscle that pumps blood throughout the body providing circulation, and rhythm. Our ’other heart’ generates from the depths of our existence and our inner feelings. When this emotional heart ’blossoms,’ it becomes a wellspring of joy, creativity, compassion, and tranquility. The human heart has an aura that emits visible light. According to the findings of a thoroughly controlled investigation done by German researchers at the University of Kassel, it was discovered that a normal person’s chest emits just 20 photons of light per second, while someone who meditates on their heart center generates an incredible 100,000 photons per second. Some studies suggest that the frequency and vibration of photons (light) are able to increase to the point that they can physically modify or restrict matter, alleviate illness, or transform bad situations. When light photons are imbued with a kind and compassionate purpose, their frequency and vibration also rise. The rate of one’s breath directly influences the rate of one’s heart via a process known as “Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia” (RSA). Meditators who practice kindness while meditating have discovered that a second yet-to-be-identified mechanism has an even greater impact than RSA. It eliminates arrhythmia in the heart rate. With continued practice, this impact becomes more consistent.

Energy studies In 1998 a large group of American academics traveled to China to do a study on Qigong masters. Qigong is a traditional practice that entails building energy via meditation and gentle exercises, while simultaneously strengthening one’s heart quality. Since the mind and the body are believed to be one, cultivating both together leads to significant, and holistic, improvement of both. According to the study, Qigong practitioners were found to create strong bursts of infrasonic light waves that were 100 to 1000 times more potent than those produced by the average person. After just a few weeks of training, even those who were new to the practice saw an increase in infrared energy production by a factor of five. A similar study conducted at the Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine published in 1988, measured part of the qi generated by skilled practitioners as infrasonic waves with frequencies that were 100 times higher in frequency than those emitted by the average person. Stanford University published the results of a 2004 research by neuroscientist Richard Davidson on the energy released by Tibetan meditation monks. Davidson tested the Dalai Lama’s most accomplished www.visiontimes.com

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The human heart has an aura that emits visible light.

Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice reminds us that we feel better about ourselves when we are kind and compassionate towards others.

The quality of mercy is not strained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed; It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. Shakespeare, from The Merchant of Venice

A normal person’s chest emits just

photons of light per second,

while someone who meditates on their heart center generates an incredible

100,000 photons per second.

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