Epoch INSIGHT Issue 12 (2022)

JAN. 6 DEFENDANT SEEKS TO CLEAR HIS NAME y B Joh p es M. Hana m e n

Retired Navy intelligence officer Thomas Caldwell with his wife on their farm in Berryville, Va., on March 19.

MARCH 25–31, 2022 | $6.95

NO. 12

Editor’s Note

Seeking to Clear His Name thomas caldwell spent 53 days in jail, is nearly bankrupt, and has been indicted on multiple charges connected to Jan. 6—the most serious being an accusation of seditious conspiracy.

Prosecutors say Caldwell was working with members of the Oath Keepers militia group.

Caldwell vehemently denies being part o fthe group and says prosecutors are twisting his private text messages—which contained what he describes as bluster between military veterans—into evidence of some kind of conspiracy.

Caldwell was at the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 with his wife, but didn't enter the Capitol building. In his own words, he went there to "hear President Trump and enjoy a safe and peaceful day with my wife and other American citizens."

Caldwell is determined to have his case go to trial so that he can clear his name. He believes he is being targeted by the government for his opinions and speech.

It has already come at a high cost. Caldwell has been forced to sell farm animals and equipment to pay for legal bills, and fears he might soon have to sell his farm.

He was arrested during a predawn raid on Jan. 19, 2021. He recalls how he feared for his wife's life as she stood on the porch with laser dots beaming from the rifles of the FBI's SWAT team on her face and chest.

He describes solitary confinement, frequent beatings, and being denied prescription medication while incarcerated, until he was released by a judge.

"I was broken physically. I had no self-respect, no nothing," he said.

Caldwell's is one of the many unheard stories of those being prosecuted for alleged crimes connected to Jan. 6.

Jasper Fakkert Editor-in-chief

2 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

JASPER FAKKERT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CHANNALY PHILIPP LIFE & TRADITION, TRAVEL EDITOR

ON THE COVER Thomas Caldwell is trying to clear his name after being accused of multiple alleged crimes connected to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach.

CHRISY TRUDEAU MIND & BODY EDITOR CRYSTAL SHI HOME, FOOD EDITOR SHARON KILARSKI ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR BILL LINDSEY LUXURY EDITOR FEI MENG & BIBA KAJEVICH ILLUSTRATORS

SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES

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vol. 2 | no. 12 | march 25–31, 2022

22 | Venezuelan Oil

49 | Global Economy

26 | Protecting

50 | American

As crude oil suffers inflation, world leaders turn to an authoritarian regime.

Could China use the Ukraine war to challenge the U.S. dollar's hegemony?

Against Diabetes A study shows yogurt may help to prevent obesity and treat Type 2 diabetes.

Resilience Faith in God and in ourselves make Americans indomitable.

52 | Critical Race

38 | War in Ukraine

Theory How Marxism has evolved and replaced economic class with race.

Art lives on in a bomb shelter beneath a Ukranian theater.

40 | Funding

Terrorism Pakistan is using a scholarship scheme to generate funds for violence in Kashmir.

44 | Inflation Fight

What good is a Federal Reserve with no spine?

45 | Profits Versus Ethics Volkswagen Co. still sees China as its “gold mine,” despite Xinjiang and the China–Russia alliance.

46 | Universal Basic

Income A bad idea that won’t go away.

47 | Commodities

A Chinese tycoon nicknamed “Big Shot” causes chaos in the nickel market.

48 | Energy Independence

A series of poor policy decisions has left Europe in an energy crisis.

Features 12 | China Fuels US Drug Crisis Beijing does little to stop thousands of Chinese firms from exporting fentanyl to America.

16 | Election Integrity Voter ID ballot measures face pressing deadlines and lawsuits.

THE LEAD 30 | January 6 A Navy veteran recounts his own “American Horror Story” since his arrest on Jan. 6 charges.

President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 23.

SAUL LOEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

56| Oceanfront Splendor This glorious estate set high above Malibu’s beaches is truly one of a kind.

58 | Ancient Fjords

Nature’s majesty is on display everywhere you look in Norway.

60 | Vacation at Home There’s no need to wait for a vacation to enjoy spa amenities.

63 | Boosting

Productivity Add a unique touch to help make your workspace a creativity zone.

66 | The Taste of NOLA The uniquely blended Sazerac is New Orleans in a glass.

67 | Meet the Neighbors Most neighborhoods are full of people who should meet each other.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 3

T H G IL T O P S BOMBING OF KYIV A UKRANIAN SERVICEMAN STANDS among debris from the Retroville shopping mall and residential district in Kyiv on March 21. At least six people were killed in the overnight bombing of the shopping center in the Ukrainian capital, a journalist said.

PHOTO BY ARIS MESSINIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

4 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 5

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Exclusive interviews, shows, documentaries, movies, and more.

Visit THEEPOCHTIMES.COM 6 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

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

No.12

A Venezuelan opposition demonstrator waves a flag at riot police during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro’s government, in Caracas on May 8, 2017.

PHOTO BY FEDERICO PARRA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The Human Cost of Venezuelan Oil

22

America’s Opioid Crisis Fueled by Beijing

Voter ID Ballot Measures Face Challenges

Ukrainian Theater Lives On, in a Bunker

Experts say Chinese authorities haven't done enough to stem the flow of fentanyl. 12

Opponents of voter ID laws argue there is little fraud in current system. 16

Artists and volunteers help transform a shelter into a theater space. 38

INSIDE I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 7

The Week in Short US

la i t neu qes noc a s i ] el is i m

c i n osrep y h s ’ a is u R [ “

$587,000 WORTH

t s o m l a s t’ I . . n o p a e w ” .t i po t s o t elbis op m i — President Joe Biden

“We must stand up to China’s crimes against Uyghurs and Tibetans, and its destruction of democracy in Hong Kong.”

— Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.)

STUDENTS

in Minneapolis are in their third week of no school, as the public school district and its teachers’ union make little progress in reaching a deal to end a strike for higher pay and other concessions.

6 MONTHS

99,017

AMERICANS died of alcoholrelated causes during the first 12 months of the pandemic in 2020—a 25.5 percent increase from the 78,927 deaths documented in 2019, a study in Journal of the American Medical Association revealed.

$6 PER GALLON

Los Angeles became the first major U.S. city to reach an average of $6 per regular gallon of gasoline on March 22, according to gas price tracker GasBuddy.

Moderna plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 months to 5 years old, even though its estimated effectiveness is lower than the bar set by the FDA and the World Health Organization.

8 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

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23,000

of cocaine was seized

by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers while conducting three separate enforcement actions at the Brownsville Gateway Port of Entry in Texas.

The Week in Short US RUSSIA–UKRAINE WAR

US Government Declares Russia Has Committed War Crimes THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

A woman pushes a stroller during a cold evening at Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York on Nov. 18, 2020.

CCP VIRUS

Babies More Immune to CCP Virus Than Adults, Study Says INFANTS AND TODDLERS who contract the CCP (Chinese Communist Party)

virus develop a significantly stronger antibody response against the virus compared to adults, a new study suggests.

None of the participants of the study, conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to the study, antibodies to a key site on the CCP virus’s outer spike protein—known as the receptor-binding domain—were more than 13 times higher in children aged 4 and younger than in adults. For children between 5 and 17, it was nine times higher than in adults.

ECONOMY

Powell Says Fed May Be More Aggressive to Curb Inflation FEDER AL RESERVE CHAIRMAN

Jerome Powell said that the central bank is prepared to take more aggressive measures to stabilize prices if necessary, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as rampant inflation continues amid a testifies in Washington on March 3. relatively strong labor market.

During an address to the National Association for Business Economics, Powell gave his strongest message about inflation to date, stating that he is prepared to “take the necessary steps to ensure a return to price stability.”

“If we conclude that it is appropriate to move more aggressively by raising the federal funds rate by more than 25 basis points at a meeting, or meetings, we will do so.

And if we determine that we need to tighten beyond common measures of neutral and into a more restrictive stance, we will do that as well,” he said.

The comments come less than a week after the central bank approved an interest rate hike for the first time in over three years.

on March 23 officially accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

“Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“Our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources.”

The consequences of such an assessment by the U.S. government aren’t yet clear.

HEALTH

Non-COVID Excess Deaths Decline in Ages 18 to 49 A DRAMATIC SPIKE IN EXCESS

deaths—mortality not attributed to COVID-19—has appeared to wane. Between October and January, the number of such deaths decreased by more than half, according to death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In January, fewer than 7,500 Americans died in excess of the average for the same month in 2018 and 2019, adjusted for the country’s population change.

About 5,000 of those deaths were attributed to COVID-19, leaving fewer than 2,500 to other causes.

By contrast, in September, there were over 14,000 such excess deaths, with fewer than 9,000 attributed to COVID. It's not clear what led to the decline.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 9

The Week in Short World UK

UK Inflation Surges to Highest in 30 Years R AMPANT PRICE RISES in

A sign at the China Evergrande Centre building in Hong Kong on Dec. 7, 2021.

CHINA

Evergrande to Miss Earnings Deadline, Says Lenders Have Seized $2 Billion in Cash

E MB AT TLE D R E A L E STATE giant China Evergrande Group, whose total

debts are estimated to surpass $300 billion, has announced that it will not meet the March 31 deadline for publishing its audited 2021 financial results.

The news comes as one of its units also said that unnamed creditors have seized $2 billion of the company’s bank deposits held as collateral on its loans.

In a stock exchange filing, Evergrande said that “drastic changes” to the company’s operating environment had led its auditor to put a number of additional audit procedures in place. Together with the impact of COVID-19, the firm claimed, these revisions to the audit requirements have made Evergrande unable to complete the procedures by the deadline.

Evergrande, with over $300 billion in liabilities, defaulted on some overseas bond payments in December and has struggled to repay suppliers and creditors, and to complete projects and homes.

TikTok Feeds Users Disinformation on Ukraine War: Report TIKTOK , A POPULAR SHORT VIDEO

app owned by China-based ByteDance, has been spreading disinformation about the Ukraine war, including both proA TikTok sign outside of its office in Culver City, Calif., on Aug. 27, 2020.

Russian and pro-Ukraine falsehoods, as well as Kremlin propaganda, according to a recent report by journalism watchdog NewsGuard.

“NewsGuard’s findings add to the body of evidence that TikTok’s lack of effective content labeling and moderation, coupled with its skill at pushing users to content that keeps them on the app, have made the platform fertile ground for the spread of disinformation,” the report stated.

“TikTok continues to be fertile ground for dangerous disinformation, fed to a young audience,” it added, noting that at the end of 2021, the site boasted of having more than 1 billion active monthly users, a record shared only by Facebook.

10 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

RUSSIA

Russia Sees First High-Level Official Resign Amid Ukraine Conflict RUS SI A N P R E SI DE N T

Vladimir Putin’s special presidential representative, Anatoly Chubais, has resigned from his post, according to top Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“Chubais resigned himself. But whether he left [the country] or not ... is his own business,” Peskov told state-run media. It’s unclear why Chubais stepped down, and Peskov didn’t elaborate on March 23.

Chubais is the highest-profile Russian official to resign since the start of the Ukraine–Russia conflict.

Rusnano State Corp. CEO Anatoly Chubais in St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 22, 2014.

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SOCIAL MEDIA

the UK have sent inflation rates to a new 30-year high, further adding to the pressure on British households.

The Consumer Price Index rose to 6.2 percent in February 2022 from 5.5 percent in January 2022, according to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

This is the highest inflation rate since March 1992, when it stood at 7.1 percent.

World in Photos

1.

1. U.S. soldiers during Cold Response 22, a Norwegian-led winter military exercise for NATO and allied countries, at Sandstrand, Norway, on March 21. 2. Kyrgyz riders play the traditional Central Asian sport of buzkashi in Cholpon-Ata on March 19.

Mounted players compete for points by throwing a stuffed sheepskin into a well.

The event is part of an ancient festival to welcome spring. 3. Men ride in a donkey cart past a field of wild mustard flowers in Beit Hanun, in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 20. 4. A firefighter extinguishes a burning house hit by Russian Grad rockets, in Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi district, on March 23.

2.

3.

4.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 11

America’s Opioid Crisis DRUG EPIDEMIC

Fueled by Beijing

BY MICHAEL WASHBURN

12 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

China Narcotics Trade

Experts say Chinese authorities haven’t done enough to stem the flow of fentanyl—and may want to use this issue as a bargaining chip against Washington

B

E I J I N G H A S M A D E O N LY

modest and half-hearted efforts toward curbing the flow of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl from manufacturers in China to foreign markets, where the drugs are causing record numbers of overdose deaths, particularly in the United States.

The communist regime is also continuing to place its geopolitical interests ahead of any effective reforms regarding the issue, according to a recent Brookings Institution report authored by Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the think tank. She has called opioids “the cause of the deadliest U.S. drug epidemic ever,” noting that drug overdose deaths soared to new levels between October 2020 and September 2021, with 104,288 Americans losing their lives. Of that number, opioids accounted for 78,388 deaths.

In Felbab-Brown’s analysis, an already grave opioid crisis took a turn toward even more severe lethality 10 years ago when synthetic opioids such as fentanyl displaced plant-based opioids and came to be used increasingly as ingredients of drug cocktails that also contain cocaine and methamphetamine.

Evolving Supply Chains

A street overrun by heroin users in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on July 19, 2021.

PHOTO BY SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES

For years, many of the more than 5,000 firms in China’s pharmaceutical industry have supplied fentanyl directly to the United States. The report described China’s chemical export sector as a poorly regulated shadow industry with between 160,000 and 400,000 manufacturers and distributors, many of them operating without licenses or hiding their activities behind shell companies.

Still, others hide the fentanyl they produce amid other products made in enormous volumes. Right up until 2019, I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 13

China Narcotics Trade

78,388 DEATHS

Out of the 104,288 deaths due to overdoses between October 2020 and September 2021, 78,388—or 75 percent—were opioid-related.

brokers in China exported fentanyl to the United States, disregarding U.S. laws against the importation of their product.

The United States raised the issue with Beijing in the hope of bringing about much stricter oversight over the production and export of these drugs within China, and this effort did result in the regulation of fentanyl analogs and two fentanyl precursors in 2018 and 2019, according to the report.

But drug suppliers simply changed tack, routing shipments to cartels in Mexico, which then supply the drug to U.S. markets. The manufacturers and distributors didn’t abandon the supply of drugs to U.S. streets so much as find proxies to bring the narcotics there.

The report details how, even now, some Chinese dealers tailor their approach specifically for Mexican cartels. Felbab-Brown cited investigative research by Washington-based nonprofit C4ADS revealing how Chinese sellers bundle fentanyl and meth precursors, along with cocaine fillers, in Spanish-language ads and tout the ability of the bundled drugs to slip through customs in Mexico.

Denying Responsibility

14 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

States. U.S. punitive measures, such as sanctions and drug indictments, are unlikely to change that.”

East Asia and Australia Political frictions have similarly hampered cooperation between Chinese and Australian agencies, according to the report.

It describes China as “the principal supplier” of precursor chemicals used in methamphetamine production in both East Asia and Mexico. Between the 1990s and the mid-2010s, meth produced in southern China went both to domestic markets and to East Asia and Australia, the report states. Here, too, increased calls for action at the diplomatic level have had only a partial effect on the global drug trade.

“At first Beijing was defensive and dismissive about any claims that China was the supply source of Australia’s meth epidemic. But as time passed, it grew willing to cooperate with Canberra,” the report reads.

The formation of Task Force Blaze, a Sino-Australian organization based in China’s Guangdong Province, in November 2015 led to the seizure of shipments of meth from China to Australia and to 130 arrests in its first year of opera-

FROM L: BENJAMIN CHASTEEN/THE EPOCH TIMES, DEA

In the face of U.S. pressure, Beijing has insisted that it can do only so much to curb nonscheduled sales of meth and fentanyl precursors to drug cartels and has rejected blame for the U.S. opioid epidemic.

The fact that Chinese criminal groups are less likely to murder their real or perceived foes than some Latin American cartels gives Beijing a further excuse for leniency, except in those relatively rare cases where Chinese criminal syndicates act directly counter to the interests of Beijing’s ruling elite, according to the report.

Beijing’s stance is that U.S. social problems are to blame for the crisis, and it shouldn’t be laid at the door of China, a nation that it says has shown “benevolence” and cooperation in anti-drug efforts.

Yet heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing in recent years have meant the regime has withheld the kind of assistance that is really needed to stop the supply of fentanyl to U.S. cities.

In recent years, things have gotten worse, not better, even as increased attention has focused on the crisis and the role of overseas suppliers.

Up until 2018, Chinese police acted on U.S. tips and arrested Chinese fentanyl dealers. But Chinese authorities haven’t acted on intelligence or indictments from U.S. officials since that time. Cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of China and Mexico over fentanyl trafficking and the trade of precursor agents is next to nonexistent.

“China’s counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S. has been subordinated to the overall deteriorated geostrategic relationship between the two countries,” the report reads. “Indeed, without significant warming of the overall U.S.–China relationship, China is unlikely to intensify its anti-drug cooperation with the United

(Left) Local police and paramedics help a man who overdosed in the Drexel neighborhood of Dayton, Ohio, on Aug. 3, 2017.

(Above) Three thousand pounds of drugs seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa commercial facility on Oct. 9, 2020.

tion alone. But this didn’t end the flow of meth precursors and pre-precursors from China to drug producers in Burma (Myanmar) and other nations.

Chinese drug smuggling networks distribute meth in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, while Mexican cartels relying heavily on precursors from China are marketing finished meth in the United States.

While the supply chain looks different on the surface, the prevalence of Chinese manufacturers and suppliers is as marked as before.

Playing Beijing’s Game The Brookings report suggests that the United States can take a number of steps to counter China’s role in the narcotics trade.

Emphasizing China’s interest in nipping domestic opioid consumption in the bud and encouraging Beijing to ramp up its anti-money laundering efforts can have no ill effects. But the report suggests that the long-term effects of such approaches will be slight.

What may make more of a difference is the implementation of self-regulatory mechanisms for chemical and pharmaceutical industries on a global level.

Such an approach may have an effect on the availability of precursor agents for drug traffickers. More cooperation among the anti-trafficking agencies of different nations is also needed, according to the report.

As the United States grapples with its opioid crisis and looks urgently for ways to stem the number of deaths caused by the crisis, one of the worst mistakes it could make would be to offer Beijing an enormous prize in exchange for cracking down on China-based drug trafficking, according to Jonathan P. Caulkins, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College and expert on the global drug trade.

In Caulkins’s analysis, nothing about the fentanyl trade is really unique to China, given the relative ease with which precursor agents for synthetic drugs can be produced anywhere. For a smaller and impoverished country such as Bolivia or Afghanistan, the drug trade might be vital to its livelihood, but even now, the money that China’s pharmaceutical companies derive from the illegal drug trade is relatively insignificant in the scheme of things.

“The total dollar value of Chinese exports of fentanyl, or precursors, is almost

certainly less than $25 million per year and possibly more like $10 million,” Caulkins said. “They’re getting a very tiny share of the value. Most of the value is created further down the supply chain, not in China.

“Given that China is the second-biggest economy in the world, and the Chinese pharmaceutical industry is gigantic, this is more of a round-off figure for them, a tiny activity in terms of dollars and the number of people involved.”

Caulkins said it may be the case that Beijing could clamp down on the illicit trade more effectively if it chose to do so, but it’s well aware of the severity of the opioid crisis in the United States and the potential use of the crisis to gain leverage and extract concessions in return for taking action.

“China understands that this is a problem for America, and they want to trick or dupe the United States into trading something,” he said. “Many people here think about this issue in a way that’s not informed by economics and markets. My biggest worry is that the United States will make the catastrophic error of trading something diplomatically important in exchange for China’s cooperation.”

For Washington to adopt a policy on Taiwan more in line with Beijing’s preferences would be a huge mistake, he said, because the United States would have given up something important.

Even if Beijing does honor a promise to take tougher action on opioids, another player would likely step in and continue the supply of fentanyl to the U.S. streets, Caulkins said. Hence the United States needs to find solutions that don’t play into Beijing’s hands and end up simply turning the trade over to new traffickers.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 15

ELECTION INTEGRITY

VOTER ID BALL FACE CHA

OPPONENTS OF VOTER ID LAWS ARGUE THER

16 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

PHOTO BY MICHAEL B. THOMAS/GETTY IMAGES

LOT MEASURES ALLENGES

RE IS LITTLE FRAUD IN THE CURRENT SYSTEM

By John Haughey

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 17

In Focus Voting Policies

W

HEN THE ARIZONA

states will decide on 43 measures on 2022 ballots, according to Ballotpedia, with organizers eying to qualify as many as 250 more proposals across 30 states. Marijuana legalization, sports gaming, ranked voting, and ‘No Right to Abortion’ initiatives are among the most common topics.

Thirty-six states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. North Carolina’s law has been blocked by an injunction since Dec. 31, 2019.

While the remaining 14 states use other methods to verify voter identity, proponents of enhanced ID requirements say that, without new standards, voters will lose confidence in the electoral system. They cite numerous polls showing that more than 80 percent of Americans support requiring a government-issued photo ID. Opponents argue there is little fraud in the current system. They say proposed ID measures and election integrity efforts burden voters, unduly restrict the right to vote, and impose unnecessary costs and burdens on state and local elections officials.

With spring approaching, citizen-initiated petition drives will kick into high gear to get ballot measures before voters this fall, or in some states in August for primary elections.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls.

ARIZONA: The state legislature essentially adopted Arizonans for Voter ID’s proposed Voter Identification Requirements for Mail-In Ballots and In-Person Voting Measure in a resolution and placed it on the ballot, saving the Arizona Free Enterprise Club-sponsored group from needing to collect 237,645 valid voter signatures by July 7 to put the proposal before voters.

In addition to the existing signature requirement, the measure requires date of birth and voter identification number for mail-in ballots that election officials would check against voter registration records, and eliminates a two-document alternative to photo ID for in-person voting.

AZVoterID is planning “a very active

18 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

A volunteer places a sign to direct voters to a polling station in Phoenix on Feb. 28, 2012. The Arizona House has passed a resolution that became the first election integrity measure to appear on its 2022 ballot.

campaign to ensure people know what this issue is about,” Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi said on March 17. The group expects to battle “misinformation” from opponents, but is certain the measure will pass.

“Based on polling we have done” and feedback from volunteers in the field, “we find that the support is overwhelming—80 percent support universal ID requirements,” he said, noting that the measure has bipartisan “majority support among all groups” of nearly all political persuasions.

“We find that, when talking to people about this issue, that voter ID just makes common sense,” Mussi said.

Voter ID is “a cornerstone of the election integrity issue.”

JONATHAN GIBBY/GETTY IMAGES

House on Feb. 28 approved a resolution to place a proposed statute expanding voter identification requirements on November’s ballot, it became the first election integrity measure to qualify for a public referendum in 2022.

Sponsors of similar citizen-initiated proposed voter ID statutes and constitutional amendments are collecting signatures in four states—Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nevada—but face encroaching deadlines, progressive countermeasures, and legal challenges.

The certainty of time-consuming, costly litigation convinced sponsors of a California voter ID initiative to delay their effort until 2024. Nevada’s prospective constitutional amendment requiring a photo ID to vote has drawn a lawsuit from the Elias Law Group, the Washington firm of Marc Elias, a prominent election law attorney who works with Democrats.

Arizona’s voter ID ballot measure, and petition drives for similar proposals in four states, are among 14 election integrity proposals in seven states that may go before voters this year—including two others in Arizona that address post-election audits and pre-election scrutiny of voter rolls, among other initiatives.

As of March 17, voters in at least 19

In Focus Voting Policies

Arizonans for Voter ID isn’t associated with two other election integrity petition drives in progress in the state—the Voter ID, Absentee Ballot Notarization, and Hand-Counting Votes Initiative and Voter ID for MailIn Ballots Initiative.

Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections is collecting signatures for a ballot countermeasure, the Election and Voting Policies Initiative, which would “protect” expanded voting rights.

MICHIGAN: There are at least 17 measures seeking space on the ballot, including four that address election integrity, with two that would expand voting rights. Proposed constitutional amendments need 425,059 signatures and prospective state statutes must have 340,047 signatures by June 1 to be added to the November ballot.

Ypsilanti-based Secure MI Vote is sponsoring two measures—the Voter ID Initiative and Forensic Election Audits Initiative—which would require forensic audits of elections,

including of the 2020 election.

The Voter ID proposal would require that voters present IDs to vote in person and to request absentee ballots.

The measure would remove an exemption that allows those without IDs to submit affidavits and require partial Social Security numbers for voter registration, and prohibit the Michigan secretary of state or local elections clerks from “sending or providing access to” mail-in ballots—unless specifically requested by voters.

The ballot measures are essentially a package of 2021 election integrity bills adopted by Michigan’s GOP-controlled legislature and vetoed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Under a unique-to-Michigan state law, if a petition to change or create a state statute secures 340,047 signatures, the legislature can adopt the proposal in chamber votes, sidestepping the governor.

“If that gathers enough signatures, it would go to the legislature, which could enact reforms,” said Honest Elec-

tions Project Executive Director Jason Snead. “It’s an interesting state law.”

Secure MI Vote spokesman Jamie Roe, of Team Roe, said on March 17 that the group has “about a quarter” of the needed 340,000 signatures, but is gearing up for a frantic spring petition drive. It will be an “uphill slog,” he said, but a recently begun direct-mailing campaign that sent “petitions to hundreds or thousands of voters” should boost those numbers.

“So people have those petitions in their homes. We urge them to sign them and send them back. Everyone is helpful,” he said. “Turn them around and send them back. For people who want secure elections, this is the best way to do it.”

With spring coming, “on-the-street” efforts are also ramping up.

“We have a volunteer army out doing it,” Roe said, before noting that it’s a “challenge to find labor” to volunteer. “We have forces on the left who are paying people in the petition-circulation business, and paying them not to work on our effort,” which is “a new and interesting” tactic he fears will “become standard practice by the left.”

Progressives have their own countermeasures, spearheaded by Promote The Vote—the Voting Rights Amendment, which would need 425,059 signatures by July 11, and the Right to Vote Initiative.

MISSOURI: We The People of Missouri is sponsoring a Changes to Voting Procedures Initiative that would require a government-issued photo ID, prohibit the use of machines to tabulate votes, require hand counts of votes, permit 14 days of early voting, allow poll observers, allow the state legislature to adjust or void vote totals, and make voter fraud “a crime of treason.”

The group needs 107,246 signatures

by May 8 to get the citizen-initiated state statute on the November ballot.

NEBRASKA: Citizens for Voter ID is sponsoring a Voter Identification Initiative that would amend the state Constitution to require a valid photographic identification in order to vote. Voters currently don’t need I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 19

In Focus Voting Policies

to present identification. The proposal needs 122,274 signatures by July 7 to get on the ballot.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Michael Connely is among the sponsors of another prospective election integrity measure, the Election Review Judicial Panel Amendment, which would establish a panel of three judges to review election proceedings before results can be certified.

Connely is among sponsors of 10 prospective 2022 ballot measures that include “Stand Your Ground”; expanded concealed carry, so “you can bring guns into church”; an “unorganized militia” measure that ensures “the Feds cannot touch your weapons”; immunity from prosecution for using a firearm for self-defense, “think Kyle Rittenhouse”; a “governors overview initiative” to issue executive orders that overrule “any dictatorial local orders and level out the power a little bit by taking out the small local dictators”; and to make

80

PERCENT

PROPONENTS OF ENHANCED ID requirements have cited many polls showing that more than 80 percent of Americans support requiring a government-issued photo ID in elections.

helmets optional for motorcyclists.

The election integrity ballot measure should find traction among parents’ rights groups during viewings of “The Mind Polluters” movie and gun-owner rights advocates that Connely plans to recruit.

“We will start in April, doing a town-by-town road trip for the whole month, signing up [gun] store owners” to not only support the three gun-owners’ rights ballot measures, but the proposed election integrity amendment, he said. “I have broken the state into 26 different areas, each with its own initiative manager. We are continuously picking up new volunteers, then we add events,” such as a recent Grand Candidate Forum in York.

“There will be 10 of us onstage,” Connely said. “I will call for anyone interested, anyone who wants to help me clean it up, to go through registrations county by county. It is very simple to take all the steps to clear off all the voters who are dead and should not be on” the rolls.

“One lady just pulled 11 people off [voter rolls] in a very small town” who had either moved or died.

Connely said Citizens for Voter ID’s Voter ID amendment is “very, very weak and watered down. Had I known how weak it was, I would have” sponsored one.

NEVADA: North Las Vegas-based Repair the Vote PAC is sponsoring a

People line up to vote at a shopping center in Las Vegas on Oct. 17, 2020. Nevada's prospective voter ID measure would amend Nevada’s Constitution to require a photo ID when voting in person and require voter verification when voting by mail.

20 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

FROM L: ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES, JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES

Voter ID and Verification Initiative and Voting Policies Referendum.

Both need 140,779 signatures by June 29 and to survive a lawsuit to get on November’s ballot.

The prospective Voter ID measure would amend Nevada’s Constitution to require a photo ID when voting in person and require voter verification when voting by mail, using the last four digits of a voter’s driver’s license, the last four digits of their Social Security number, or the last four digits of their voter registration number.

The Voting Policies measure seeks a referendum on a 2020 bill that autho-

rized automatically sending mail-in ballots to all registered voters, permitted ballot harvesting, and counted ballots received without a legible postmark on election day. If adopted, it would essentially ban mail-in ballots.

“We are ramping up,” said Repair the Vote Executive Director David Gibbs on March 17. “We have volunteers working across the state in all the different counties. The biggest challenge is Clark County, and we have over 100 volunteers” set to hit the streets and set up booths at events.

“I think we can” secure the needed 140,779 signatures by June 29, he said.

“We are having very few people say ‘no.’ We’re getting success across all political parties. This polls better than 80 percent across the country and here in Nevada.

A former Clark County Republican Central Committee chair, Gibbs said

Voters cast their ballots in Lansing, Mich., on Nov. 3, 2020.

Michigan is seeking to get four measures that address election integrity on the ballot.

“[Voter ID is] a cornerstone of the election integrity issue.”

Scot Mussi, president, Arizona Free Enterprise Club

the biggest challenge isn’t gathering signatures or getting the measures passed in November, but surviving two lawsuits seeking to stymie the initiatives filed by Elias, who was also general counsel for the 2016 Hilary Clinton campaign.

“They are suing us to change the wording on the [Voter ID] proposal,” he said, noting if the petition’s language is changed, “people who’ve already signed would be invalidated.”

The suits seek an injunction against the Voting Policies measure, claiming Repair the Vote’s official description as restoring voter integrity is “misleading.”

Sigal Chattah, a Republican attorney general candidate, has filed a motion to intervene on behalf of Repair the Vote.

“Our attorneys are engaged,” Gibbs said. “We are moving forward. We are collecting signatures.”

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 21

OIL PRICES

The Human Cost of Venezuelan Oil Venezuelan president’s legacy of human rights abuses forgotten amid oil shortages

I

By Autumn Spredemann

22 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

in Venezuela today is not a democracy. ... It’s a dictatorship upheld by a one-party state, upheld by foreign occupation. For Venezuela to be free, this power structure must go.”

Since his rise to power in 2013, Maduro has presided over the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.

Thirty percent of Venezuela’s gross domestic product was lost just three years after the death of controversial President Hugo Chavez. Excessive levels of dire poverty and hyperinflation followed, along with critical food and medicine shortages.

This combination of devastating factors led to an increasingly authoritarian regime under Maduro, which still struggles to maintain a grip on the nation amid protests and political opposition. He has, on more than one occasion, extinguished both with lethal force.

After a U.N. fact-finding mission on human rights abuses in Venezuela, investigators found evidence of unlawful executions, forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and torture having been prevalent since 2014.

In a December 2019 official report, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Carrie Filipetti said the booming illicit mining industry in Venezuela “perpetuates a horrific cycle of criminality and both human and ecological abuse.”

Since his rise to power in 2013, Maduro has presided over the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.

FROM L: JUAN BARRETO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, YURI CORTEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

n recent weeks, with increased sanctions against Russia and the systematic withdrawal of U.S. oil service companies from the Eurasian nation, officials have turned to the authoritarian regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in hopes of a solution.

Since Russia launched a massive military invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, crude oil has suffered market instability and inflation, hitting historic highs of more than $130 per barrel.

Some experts say this trend is likely to continue or even get worse.

A high-level U.S. delegation, which included six Citgo oil executives, met with Maduro on March 5, triggering a backlash from U.S. representatives and the public.

Yet a week later, on March 12, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security, Josep Borrell Fontelles, met with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia to discuss a “commitment” to the U.N. charter.

Additionally, Plasencia advocated the removal of sanctions against the Maduro regime.

As talk of alternative oil resources has emerged, some have pointed to Venezuela’s vast potential. The South American country has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, at 304 billion barrels.

By comparison, Saudi Arabia has 298 billion barrels, and the United States has 69 billion barrels, despite being the world’s top producer of the fossil fuel.

Global shortages aside, doing business with Maduro undermines the reason the United States suspended relations with Venezuela: an avalanche of human rights accusations, criminal activity, and a stolen presidential election.

“There are structural reasons for why Venezuelan democracy would not stabilize under Maduro,” analyst Dr. Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat told Insight. “The first reason is that what exists

World Energy

She noted that while the “Maduro dictatorship” recognized the threat that illegal mining poses to indigenous populations, the contested head of state has taken no steps to address the concern.

Instead, Maduro has capitalized off it and uses mining operations as an umbrella for trading guns, cash, and control for loyalty to the regime, according to Filipetti.

Allegations of unarmed protesters being beaten and murdered by state security officials have continued tarnishing Maduro’s international reputation since 2014.

“The killing of hundreds of citizens protesting for democracy and freedom, the incarceration of citizens for how they think, the surrender of Venezuela‘s infrastructure and wealth to foreign occupiers, are gross and gigantic human rights violations,” Gutiérrez-Boronat said.

During the 2018 presidential election, Maduro won a second six-year term in office. However, his political rivals, U.S. officials, some humanitarian organizations, and many Venezuelans claim that the election was nothing more than a show, propping up a ruthless dictator.

The contested election was the impetus behind increased U.S. sanctions against the authoritarian regime.

In 2019, President Donald Trump targeted state-owned Venezuelan oil company PDVSA, the property owned by that enterprise, and

U.S. companies doing business in the country in an attempt to further isolate the nation economically.

Partners such as Chevron were allowed to maintain essential operations, but were required to phase out production by June 2022.

Additionally, the U.S. Treasury started sanctioning those involved with the export, production, or sale of Venezuelan oil in 2019.

U.S. sanctions against Caracas began in 2005, when President George W. Bush determined that the administration of Chavez wasn’t upholding its obligations to global anti-drug trafficking agreements.

Existing miseries within the population were compounded by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Maduro’s regime seized the opportunity to punish dissenters for breaking COVID-19-related restrictions, and he used the state of emergency to expand control over the population.

Many families lacked access to adequate nutrition, safe water, and health care facilities, which the organization Human Rights Watch said amounts to crimes against humanity.

A firm and long-standing supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Maduro has openly supported the fellow authoritarian leader’s attack on Ukraine, even claiming that Western nations provoked the conflict.

“Those who provoked this conflict with decades of non-compliance with agreements, with decades of threats against Russia, with decades of preparing plans for the extension of NATO are the first ones who are responsible for deescalating this conflict,” Maduro said during a March 7 speech.

(Left) Members of the National Guard arrest an opposition activist during a demonstration against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, on June 26, 2017.

(Above) State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela’s oil refinery in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, on Nov. 4, 2021.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 23

24 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

T H G IL T O P S SRINAGAR’S JEWEL A FISHERMAN STEERS A BOAT AT sunset on Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, on March 19.

The lake is called the “Jewel in the Crown of Kashmir” or “Srinagar’s Jewel.” It is also an important source for commercial operations in fishing and water plant harvesting.

PHOTO BY TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 25

D I A B E T E S T R E AT M E N T

How Yogurt Protects Against Diabetes

A study shows health benefits of yogurt consumption in obese mice

By Nathan Worcester

26 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

consumed yogurt. What’s more, while obesity curbed BCHA production, yogurt consumption staved off some of that decrease.

These trends led the article’s authors to wonder if BCHAs were responsible for yogurt’s desirable metabolic effects.

They tested this by studying the direct effects of BCHA on liver and muscle tissue outside the animal (in vitro).

BCHAs modulated glucose metabolism in both types of tissue, supporting the theory that BCHAs influence the metabolic processes that can give rise to Type 2 diabetes.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting that obesity is linked to reduced levels of all three BCHA in the plasma and metabolic tissues. The levels of these metabolites were, in addition, negatively as-

(Left) Researchers found that mice fed a yogurt-heavy diet had better insulin sensitivity and preserved glucose homeostasis.

(Above) From 1980 to 2014, the number of people worldwide who had diabetes quadrupled, greatly outpacing the overall population increase during that time.

FROM L: MAMA_MIA/SHUTTERSTOCK, JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

n e w p a p e r i n n a t u r e Communications has shed light on the mechanisms that may link yogurt consumption to a lower incidence of Type 2 diabetes.

Through studies on a mouse model of obesity-related Type 2 diabetes, researchers found that mice fed a yogurt-heavy diet had better insulin sensitivity and preserved glucose homeostasis, setting them apart from mice on a similar diet that lacked yogurt.

The investigators determined that the yogurt-consuming mice had healthier livers than those other mice. Notably, their livers showed less fat buildup, or steatosis, which is common in people with Type 2 diabetes.

The team’s most striking and original finding, however, concerned three liver metabolites belonging to a class known as branchedchain hydroxy acids (BCHA).

BCHAs “result from the action of yogurt lactic bacteria on naturally occurring amino acids in milk,” said co-lead author André Marette, a professor at Université Laval’s Faculty of Medicine and a researcher at the Québec Heart and Lung Institute.

BCHA levels were higher in the mice that

Healthy Diet

Researchers of the study found that the livers of yogurt-consuming mice showed less fat buildup, or steatosis, which is common in people with type 2 diabetes.

sociated with plasma glucose as well as liver triglycerides, suggesting that they are novel biomarkers of metabolic and liver health,” the authors wrote.

“BCHA are found in fermented dairy products and are particularly abundant in yogurt.

Our body produces BCHA naturally, but weight gain seems to affect the process,” said one of the article’s co-authors, Hana Koutnikova of the food company Danone Nutricia.

Other researchers contacted by Insight commented on the importance of the research.

“The study was well designed and executed.

It indeed identified novel intermediaries in the mechanisms of yogurt’s health effects.

However, this is one among many other complex mechanisms involved in known and unknown mechanisms of yogurt’s health

102,188

Lives Were Lost to diabetes, one of the leading causes of death around the world, in the United States in 2020.

benefits,” Dr. Elena Barengolts, an endocrinologist based in Los Angeles, said in an email interview.

Barengolts was previously affiliated with the University of Illinois–Chicago, where she led a meta-analysis, or a pooled study of multiple separate studies that showed probiotic yogurt was not superior to regular yogurt for patients with diabetes or obesity.

“Further work, as always, is necessary to convert these novel mechanistic data into novel treatments of obesity and diabetes. However, yogurt and other fermented milk products— kefir, for example—could be recommended as part of a diet aimed at preventing and/or treating obesity and [Type 2 diabetes].”

“This is a very interesting study,” Bradley W. Bolling, an associate professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, told Insight in an email.

Bolling has conducted research on the relationship between yogurt, obesity, and gut health.

“We don’t yet know how these results from mouse studies will translate to humans. I think it is safe to recommend yogurt consumption on the basis of its nutrient density. However, we need to be careful not to promise any type of direct metabolic outcome in those that eat yogurt, as more evidence is needed.”

Diabetes and many other chronic diseases are on the rise worldwide.

While 108 million people across the planet had diabetes in 1980, that number almost quadrupled by 2014, reaching 422 million, according to the World Health Organization—a rise greatly outpacing the overall population increase during that time, from 4.46 billion in 1980 to 7.3 billion in 2014 according to Worldometer.

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death around the world and in the United States, costing 102,188 lives in the U.S. in 2020 as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 27

PA N D E M I C P E T S

Pet Surrenders Rise as Eviction Freeze Ends Evictions, rising costs force people to surrender their pets

P

By Allan Stein inal county, ariz.—life during the COVID-19 pandemic could be an especially lonely time for homebound Americans, and to ease the stress, many families adopted a pet for daily companionship.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) reports that in 2021 alone, 23 million households—nearly 1 in 5—had taken in a cat or dog since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

“The vast majority of these households still have that pet in the home—90 percent for dogs and 85 percent for cats—and are not considering rehoming their pet in the near future,” according to the society in a recent survey.

Matt Bershadker, ASPCA president and CEO, said in a statement that this “incredibly stressful period motivated many people to foster and adopt animals, as well as further cherish the pets already in their lives.”

What’s more, the organization’s research found “no significant risk of animals being rehomed now or in the near future as a result of the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions,” Bershadker said.

“Pets are still providing their families with joy and comfort, regardless of changes in circumstances, and loving owners continue to recognize and appreciate the essential role pets play in their lives.”

Still, in many cases, if families have to find a new place to live after the lifting of the federal eviction moratorium on July 31, 2021, they might be unable to bring their pets.

In Arizona, pet surrenders at community shelters began to climb with the end of the moratorium, with projections of 2,000 new intakes per month—5,000 being a worst-case scenario.

At the Pinal County Animal Care and Con28 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

23

MILLION

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. households, or 23 million, took in a cat or dog during the pandemic.

trol shelter in Casa Grande, Arizona, director Audra Michael said the facility is now “triple overcrowded,” with 152 dogs and 30 cats as of March 6, placing a strain on the agency’s budget and available resources.

“It presents some problems,” Michael said.

“People are being evicted or they can’t take their pet with them. Or they don’t have the resources to care for them anymore.”

Lindsay Hamrick, director of shelter outreach and engagement for The Humane Society of the United States, said the agency hasn’t seen any nationwide increase in pet surrenders in recent months.

In fact, overall pet intakes are “actually down.”

“We saw in the very beginning of the pandemic that people were going to be home and isolated,” Hamrick told Insight. Still, The Humane Society

FROM TOP: ALLAN STEIN/THE EPOCH TIMES, JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES

Eviction Pause Ends, Creates Problems

Jadyn Kang, adoption coordinator at the Pinal County Animal and Control shelter in Casa Grande, Ariz., holds a 9-month-old orange tabby, on March 6.

Nation Pet Relinquishment

es pet owners who may be considering surrendering a cat or dog to reach out to a friend or neighbor for help, or contact their local shelter for assistance.

In July 2021, the Arizona Humane Society announced the formation of the Pet Housing Help AZ Task Force, a coalition of seven agencies, to provide resources to keep families and pets together.

“In Maricopa County, people’s ability to cover pet care costs and related expenses have been drastically affected by the pandemic,” the organization said.

“Because the pandemic has exacerbated affordable housing shortages that already existed, renters across the country and low-income households often choose between paying rent and buying groceries, medicine and other necessities—including pet-related expenses.”

The task force was formed to expand temporary foster programs for pet owners and to increase public awareness of the many advantages of pet-friendly housing and landlords.

Before the pandemic, Maricopa Animal Care and Control saw a 36 percent increase in owner surrenders of pets due to housing-related reasons, including evictions and homelessness.

At the same time, the no-kill Pinal County animal shelter was housing around 25 dogs— the lowest number Michael has seen in years, she said.

Now, triple crowding seems to be the new normal.

“We do have a waiting list for people who want to surrender their pet. We call them when we have space. It might take a week. It might take two weeks. It’s not getting any better. Not yet.

I’m hoping it does,” Michael said.

“People are being evicted or they can’t take their pet with them. Or they don’t have the resources to care for them anymore.”

Audra Michael, director, Pinal County Animal Care and Control

Maricopa County constable Darlene Martinez knocks on a door before posting an eviction order in Phoenix on Oct. 1, 2020.

remains concerned about the “eviction crisis” and its impact on pet surrenders, including the lack of affordable, “pet-inclusive” housing despite studies that show there are benefits to pet-friendly properties, she said.

Outside Pet Owners’ Control “Even though we’re pretty optimistic about pet adoptions,” animal shelters are “overwhelmed” by a backlog of cats and dogs waiting for a home, Hamrick told Insight.

The ASCPA acknowledges that even without a national surge in returns, there are a number of reasons making it difficult for people to adopt or keep a pet.

Often, this is due to factors outside their control, she said.

For these reasons, the organization encouragI N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 29

A Navy veteran lives an ‘American Horror Story’ since his arrest on Jan. 6 charges 30 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

LIFE JAN

Thomas Caldwell, a U.S. Navy veteran, at his home in Berryville, Va., on March 19.

PHOTO BY SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES

E AFTER NUARY 6 CAPITOL BREACH

BY JOSEPH M. HANNEMAN

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 31

The Lead Jan. 6

“ABBA, FATHER! PLEASE DON’T LET THEM MURDER MY WIFE!” AFTER MORE THAN two decades in the

(Top) Then-Lt. Cmdr. Thomas E. Caldwell aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 62) as it leaves San Diego in 1989.

(Above) Caldwell aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68).

32 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

‘THE LOWEST POINT IN MY LIFE’ Life over the past 14 months has been full of challenges, tragedy, and miracles for the retired Navy intelligence officer from Berryville, Va. His trip to Washington to see President

Donald Trump on Jan. 6, a patriotic outing with his wife, resulted in an FBI raid, 53 days in jail, near bankruptcy, and a federal indictment accusing him of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging duties, and tampering with a document or proceeding—aiding and abetting.

Prosecutors accuse him of working with members of the Oath Keepers to prevent Congress from certifying the Electoral College votes from the 2020 presidential election. Caldwell allegedly recommended a hotel for members of an Oath Keepers “Quick Reaction Force” that was to be stationed near Washington to aid other Oath Keepers attacking at the Capitol.

Prosecutors said Caldwell asked his contacts for help securing boats that could be used to ferry men and weapons across the Potomac River.

“Can’t believe I just thought of this: how many people either in the militia or not (who are still supportive of our efforts to save the Republic) have a boat on a trailer that coud [sic] handle a Potomac crossing?” Caldwell wrote in one message, according to the criminal complaint. “If we had someone standing by at a dock ramp (one near the Pentagon for sure) we could have our Quick Response Team with the heavy weapons standing by, quickly load them and ferry them across the river to our waiting arms.”

Caldwell says federal prosecutors have gotten it badly wrong, mixing up or intentionally twisting bluster among retired military men into some kind of sinister conspiracy.

“I have now reviewed mountains of messages, photos, et cetera, in the huge volume of discovery provided by the government in this case, and I have not seen one iota of evidence that anyone had a plan or an intention to invade

COURTESY OF SHARON CALDWELL, SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES

U.S. Navy and assignments around the world, Thomas E. Caldwell thought he knew the meaning of horror.

That all changed in the predawn hours of Jan. 19, 2021.

Minutes after being jostled awake, Caldwell found himself outside in the freezing cold in his undershorts and a T-shirt. In handcuffs attached to a belly chain, he then was dragged across the lawn by FBI agents and thrown onto the hood of a government sedan.

Caldwell looked back at the porch of his farmhouse and saw Sharon, his wife of 22 years, standing in her nightgown, with arms extended. She clutched a sock in each hand.

Laser dots appeared on her face and chest, beamed from the carbine barrels of an FBI SWAT team. In an instant, Caldwell saw it all, just a finger twitch from unspeakable tragedy.

“That was moral terror,” the whitehaired 66-year-old Caldwell told Insight.

“I would rather that they had shot me between the eyes than to threaten her like that.”

“I will never forget that image, because she looked like an angel in a white nightshirt, standing in her bare feet on that cold concrete, with her arms extended to her side in compliance to them,” Caldwell recalled, choking back tears.

“That was the moment I learned what real horror was. Because I’m looking at that and I said, ‘Abba, Father! Please don’t let them murder my wife! Please don’t let them kill my wife!’”

Thomas Caldwell and his wife of 22 years, Sharon, at their home.

THE FBI CHARGED CALDWELL WITH TRESPASSING, BUT HE SAID THAT HE NEVER WENT INTO THE CAPITOL.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 33

The Lead Jan. 6

All of the animals on the Caldwells’ farm have been sold to help pay legal bills for his defense.

34 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

are horrible and seditious are mocking and jibing and poking fun with friends— in private conversations—sometimes with one person in a text message, or two people,” he said. “In fact, some of these things are with guys that are 75 miles away in Virginia, who are at their farms, drunk as lords, as they say, watching stuff on TV.”

A FARM FOR FREEDOM Caldwell’s legal fight has already come at a steep price. The Caldwells sold their farm equipment and animals to help pay legal bills. He worries his multigenerational Shenandoah Valley farm will soon be lost, and has turned to internet crowd-funding for help.

COURTESY OF SHARON CALDWELL

the Capitol, or to stop the peaceful transition of the Presidency, or to do anything of an unlawful nature,” he said. “My personal intentions related to January 6 were to hear President Trump and enjoy a safe and peaceful day with my wife and other American citizens.”

Caldwell plans to go to trial in search of exoneration and restoration of his reputation. His trial was scheduled to begin July 11 in U.S. District Court in Washington, but it now appears the date will be moved back to Sept. 26. Defense attorneys are working through terabytes of evidence, including more than 24,000 video files turned over by the Department of Justice.

“A lot of the things that they’re saying

Through it all, the physical and psychological assault on his family that brisk morning is what sticks with him. He has difficulty talking about seeing his wife literally in the crosshairs of the FBI. “I will never forget it. It is seared into my memory. In my nightmares, it plays again and again and again,” Caldwell said. “Not them kicking me; it’s that image. It is the lowest point in my life.

And yet it might be the greatest miracle of my life that she was spared.”

As he stood on the windswept porch staring into a sea of what looked like klieg lights, he was dumbfounded at the combat-strength force arrayed against him and his wife.

An armored vehicle with a battering ram stood ready to punch through the side of the house. Agents in full tactical gear lit Caldwell up like a Christmas tree with the piercing laser beams from their rifle sights. He figured they were fully automatic M4 carbines aimed at his head and center mass.

After throwing him down on the car hood, Caldwell said, one of the agents kneed him hard in the small of the back, right where metal hardware remained from surgeries. Agents put him in the back of a car, where he sat wondering if Sharon was still alive.

Agents used a handheld battering ram to smash their way into the stand-alone garage where Caldwell used to store his 1963 Ford Thunderbird convertible. The T-Bird is gone, sold to pay for his legal defense. Agents broke into the barn, ripped things off the walls, and then “ransacked the house,” Caldwell said.

After a while, Caldwell was taken back into his home and questioned. He spent 2 1/2 hours explaining his trip to the Capitol, and how he was not now, nor had he ever been, a member of the Oath Keepers. He said there were lots of assumptions behind the questions, but few facts.

“I had asked them five separate times, ‘What am I being charged with? What am I being charged with?’ They finally said, ‘Trespassing.’ I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? You come here and point guns in

The Lead Jan. 6

my wife’s face for trespassing? Where am I supposed to have trespassed?’ They said, ‘Well, you went into the Capitol.’”

As it turns out, Caldwell never went into the Capitol. After Trump’s speech at the Ellipse was finished, he and Sharon slowly made their way to the Capitol grounds. Trump told supporters to peacefully go to the Capitol, so the Caldwells thought perhaps Trump was going to make remarks there.

They got as far as the Peace Monument before Caldwell had to sit. He said his legs and back were causing him terrible pain. So they spent about an hour snapping photos, chatting with others in the crowd, and admiring the 44-foothigh Carrara marble monument set on a Maine blue granite base.

‘YOU CAN’T BELIEVE THE VIEW!’ Reports started to trickle down the 300some yards from the West Front of the Capitol, where the president-elect takes the oath of office every four years. “People were up there, and they were taking selfies, and folks were coming down [by the Peace Monument] saying, ‘You can’t believe the view!’” Caldwell said.

The Caldwells wanted to see for themselves. They slowly made their way up the stairs, with Tom pressing his hip against the railing for support. They walked through the giant scaffolding set up for the inauguration, up near the platform where so many famous speeches have been made.

“We did go up on ... the inauguration balcony and we took a selfie,” Caldwell said. “Again, no police saying, ‘Don’t do it.’ No sign saying, ‘Don’t do it.’ And a crush of people doing it. And so you might say, ‘Well, maybe you shouldn’t have done that.’ Well, maybe so, but it didn’t seem like there was any deterrent to it at all.”

Caldwell said he didn’t notice any rioting or violence while at the West Front of the Capitol. After a while, the couple began the trek back down toward the Peace Monument. After a rest, they continued the walk up Constitution Avenue to their car. By then, reports were circulating that Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser had declared a curfew for that night due to events at the Capitol, just as Caldwell was nearing his vehicle.

Caldwell said that despite the contention in federal charging documents, he is not a member of the Oath Keepers, was never recruited for the group, and had no plans to join. He knows veterans who are Oath Keepers. His private text messages with friends were twisted into something they were not, he said.

He told the lead FBI agent that morning that his opinions and speech were the real targets.

“I said, ‘Look, it looks like there’s people in the government who want to prosecute me for bombast with a friend and private text message or something like that. This is all about things I think and things I say.’ And he said, ‘Nobody’s going to lock you up or prosecute you for words.’ And I said, ‘We’ll see.’ That’s on tape. So it looks like I was right.”

‘HELL ON EARTH’ The next chapter in Caldwell’s Jan. 6 saga took place in the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange, Va. His experience there was similar to reports from other Jan. 6 detainees in facilities, including the District of Columbia Jail, who have said they were subjected to brutal beatings, denial of food, and banishment to solitary confinement, a practice condemned

by Amnesty International as “cruel and all too usual.”

Caldwell said he became convinced he wouldn’t live to see the outside world again. He said he spent 49 of his 53 days in solitary confinement. He was denied

“It really is hell on earth—24 hours a day, no visitors, no medicines, no exercise. And my entire world was reduced to a 7-by12-foot concrete dungeon with a huge steel door on one end.”

Thomas E. Caldwell, veteran his prescription medications, which led to him having seizures on the concrete floor of his cell and soiling himself. The guards seemed to enjoy it, he said. “I’d have seizures on the concrete floor of my dungeon, and the guards [were] looking through the little bulletproof glass laughing, laughing at me as I’m messing myself,” he said. “And I’m thinking, ‘I’m never getting out of here. This is hell on earth.’

“It really is hell on earth—24 hours a day, no visitors, no medicines, no exercise. And my entire world was reduced to a 7-by-12-foot concrete dungeon with a huge steel door on one end.”

Thomas and Sharon Caldwell at the Peace Monument near the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 35

The Lead Jan. 6

“I will never forget it.

It is seared into my memory.

In my nightmares, it plays again and again and again.”

Thomas E. Caldwell, veteran

36 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

With stakes this high, Caldwell admits there have been times he was ready to take a plea and save the family farm. But his wife stands by him and believes they should “fight all the way.”

started, I said: ‘Thank you, God, that I haven’t been beaten yet today. But the day isn’t over, Lord.’”

One day, Caldwell saw a guard with a cart full of newspapers and other reading materials. He spotted a thick book that he suspected was a Holy Bible, and he asked if he could have it.

The guard said, “No man, I can’t give you anything.”

“I felt embarrassed. And yet I believe that God put the words in my mouth.

And I said, ‘Hey, it’s just a Bible, man.’ I was embarrassed because it’s the word of God. But it was the thing he needed to hear. He moved the newspapers, and by golly, it was a tattered Bible.”

Caldwell snatched the Bible when the guard placed it between the bars. He nev-

er felt so alone. He felt hated, despised.

“Nobody knows what’s going on, and nobody’s doing anything,” he thought.

Then God spoke to him, as the Bible opened to the Book of Psalms.

“I sat down on the cold floor, and I just opened the Bible,” he said. “I just held it in my hands, and it flopped open to Psalm 109: ‘The mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful man is opened against me. They have spoken against me with deceitful tongues.’”

“I said, ‘God knows what I’m going through! He knows. I’m not alone.’ And I thought, I told him many times, I said, ‘I just want to come home if this is all that’s here for me. I give up. I want to come home. I’ll come home to you right now. Let’s do it.’ And then I said, ‘But you

SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES

The inhumane treatment started upon arrival. Caldwell said he underwent some kind of full-body scan. He was subjected to an anal probe before and after the scan. “I guess it’s just to show that they can dehumanize you,” he said.

One day, a guard struck him hard in the lower back where his previous surgeries had been. With the double handcuffs attached to a belly chain, he had no way to break the fall.

“So I did kind of a face plant, I turn my head sideways,” he recalled. “And then someone stepped between my ankles and kicked me in the groin. Repeatedly. ...

I can now win [at] Double Jeopardy if the question is, ‘How many times can you be kicked in the groin before you pass out?’ I know the answer that I hope no one else finds out. But I have the answer to that question.”

What happened next sticks with Caldwell, seared permanently in his memory.

“The guy that was the kicker said to me, he said, ‘Where’s your Sky Daddy?

Where’s your Sky Daddy? Gonna come down here and help you?’ He was referring, of course, to Jesus Christ. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget it.”

Occasionally, Caldwell was allowed to take a phone call from Sharon. The phone was stuck through a hole in the bars, so he had to kneel to use the receiver. They prayed together.

“It was just like an angel speaking from heaven,” he said. “And she would remind me of the importance of presenting my prayers and petitions to God with thanksgiving. So it’s not just, ‘Here’s my Christmas wish list, God.’ It’s like, ‘Thank you for another day. Thank you for my lovely wife, thank you for the chance that maybe I’ll get out of here someday.’

“One time, I couldn’t come up with anything,” Caldwell said. “When I first

The Lead Jan. 6

wife’s arms in the dark in that parking lot, on March the 12th of last year.”

Officials at the Central Virginia Regional Jail didn’t respond to a request for comment.

HAND OF PROVIDENCE

know what, I’d love to see Sharon just one more time.’”

Just a bit later in Psalm 109, it reads: “Help me, O Lord my God; save me according to Thy mercy. And let them know that this is Thy hand: and that Thou, O Lord, hast done it. They will curse and Thou will bless: let them that rise up against me be confounded: but Thy servant shall rejoice.”

A few days later, Caldwell had a hearing before U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta.

Attorney David Fischer argued convincingly that Caldwell needed to be released from incarceration.

“Judge Mehta, I believe he saved my life,” Caldwell said, “because I was broken physically. I had no self-respect, no nothing. I was drained. The only thing I had was just a shred of faith that Jesus was there with me.

“You know what, I saw it. I saw the light.

“Just a couple of days later, I fell into my

Caldwell said he saw the hand of divine providence many times during his ordeal. He believes Fischer was sent to him

by God, to rescue him from prison and defend him from the criminal charges.

“He drove down and talked to me through bulletproof glass for about a half-hour,” Caldwell said. “He finally said to me, ‘Mr. Caldwell, look, I defend a lot of people in the federal system. I have some people lie to me for a living. You’re innocent.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell everybody.’”

It took Caldwell weeks at home to stop shivering from the cold of the cell. One of his ankles was raw and swollen from the steel ankle restraints.

He began to heal. First, the physical wounds. The psychological damage is likely permanent.

“It’s like, I am a human being. I am not a thing that you could put in a box and shove me away and lock me up. You know, I have worth and I’m a person,” he said. “And this is not right. And yet it happened, and is happening.

“And I am just so fortunate, so fortunate that God brought me out. I don’t know why. I’m forever grateful. I feel like I was born again.”

Caldwell said he worries about the other Jan. 6 defendants still in jail, held without bail for more than a year. He knows what they face, day after day.

“They’re going to be emotionally scarred by post-traumatic stress disorder,” he said. “I would tell you I had PTSD before they threw me in there. Now I tell people I’ve just got stress disorder, because there ain’t no post. This is part of it. The pressure is on every single day.”

‘EVIL ALL AROUND ME’ Caldwell said he was not part of any Oath Keepers plan to do anything at the Capitol on Jan. 6. He and Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III met very briefly at a local Virginia political rally the weekend after the 2020 presidential election, Caldwell said. Caldwell had just stepped off a

hay wagon after making some remarks.

“I’m approached by this guy with an eyepatch, and this was Stewart Rhodes,” he said. “He introduced himself. ... ‘You’re a nice guy, love what you said.’ And that is how I met Stewart Rhodes.

“I’ve told you before, I know, but it really needs emphasis, because the government has consistently fibbed about this. I am not a member of the Oath Keepers. He did not attempt to recruit me. Nobody rushed me like Tau Kappa Epsilon at the University of Louisville.

None of that.”

As he works with his wife and attorney on his defense, Caldwell has time to reflect on the past 14 months. Even with the passage of time, he said, his experience is still unbelievable. He calls it his “American Horror Story.” It is not something he ever imagined taking place in America.

“I love our country. I can’t see how this is happening here. This is, this is Nazi Germany in the ‘30s. This is Josef Stalin,” Caldwell said. “This is Venezuela.

This is Cuba. You know, in a way, it’s a little bit like the way Ferdinand Marcos operated in the Philippines. This is Pol Pot. It’s absolute evil. There was evil all around me.”

As he works to regain his health and his good name, Caldwell turns his attention to holding on to the family legacy.

“I hope we don’t end up losing our farm. It’s the last thing that we have of monetary value,” he said. “Sharon and I are not rich people who moved to the country and got a farm and a McMansion. This is property that I worked as a child beside my parents who are in heaven, and my widowed sister.”

With stakes this high, Caldwell admits there have been times he was ready to throw in the towel, take a plea, and save the family farm.

“This is where our family memories live. This is where our heart lives. And they really don’t have the right to take this from us,” he said. “But as Sharon tells me, she says, ‘You’re not pleading anything.’ And I said, ‘Yes, I am.’

“She says, ‘You’re not taking a plea deal.

I don’t care if we’re living in the back of a car. We’re gonna fight all the way.’

“And what more could you ask for than a beautiful, soulful Christian woman who feels that way?”

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 37

WA R I N U K R A I N E

Ukrainian Theater Lives On, in a Bunker

Artists and volunteers help transform a bomb shelter into a theater space

I

By Ivan Pentchoukov

38 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

depot days prior to the performance on March 20.

The theater, Ivano-Frankivsk’s largest performing arts venue, shut its doors on Feb. 24, the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The venue’s basement became a hub for humanitarian supplies, and the space beneath it a bomb shelter. Later, artists and volunteers helped transform the space into a makeshift performance venue. The first performance in the bomb shelter, titled “Eneida,” played on March 7. “The Nation” played on March 16, followed by “Romeo and Juliet” on March 18.

On March 20, the bomb shelter was the venue for a musical based on Gutsulka Ksenia, a Ukrainian folk song.

“The dark night covered the mountains and submerged the plain, and amidst it, a pure white figure emerged,” says the first couplet of the song, performed by the theater’s lead actor.

The song’s symbolic, somber start gives way to more common folk themes:

love and lust. The operetta’s female lead, clad in a white wedding dress, sank on the table filled with her wedding guests, crushed by betrayal.

The audience members were a mix of refugees and locals, according to the producer of the performance, Ivano-Frankivsk Theater Director Rostislav Derzhypilskyy.

“It’s going to be symbolic to perform this play here in the bomb shelter and we’re doing this to give us momentum to push ourselves to the top as a much stronger nation,” Derzhypilskyy told Insight.

Roman Grygoriv, a composer of several contemporary Ukrainian operas, was in the audience on March 20. Grygoriv, who has a wife and small children, fled Kyiv shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. The family, joined by Grygoriv’s co-composer Illia Razumeiko, packed into a car and spent 22 hours on the road to Ivano-Frankivsk.

Grygoriv, the art director of the Na-

ALL PHOTOS BY CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES

vano-frankivsk, ukraine —A crowd of guests from an adjacent hotel filed into the bomb shelter in the cavernous basement of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Academic Ukrainian Musical Drama Theater on March 20.

The crowd filled up the dimly lit space, sitting on the makeshift tiered benches in the back. The fogging machines, theatrical lighting rigs, and sound equipment were barely discernible from the bunker’s piping, ductwork, and wiring.

In the early afternoon the day before, someone flipped off the bomb shelter’s original lights, and a mix of stagehands and actors crisscrossed the darkened space to add spotlights, the laser stage light, and the fogger. Young men and women in costumes from another era emerged from the darkness and disappeared again in a chaotic rush to set the stage and transform the shelter space into a theater.

At the foot of a steep industrial staircase that drops some 20 feet into the shelter from the theater’s basement, a symphony orchestra and a handful of vocalists waited in silence on March 20.

Their chairs were arranged under the towering mass of an industrial air duct.

A broken, decommissioned, two-storytall section of the duct, likely too large to remove, lay behind a row of violists.

Though the front lines of the war were hundreds of miles away, a Russian missile struck the Ivano-Frankivsk airport during the first days of the invasion and another aerial attack hit an arms

World Performance Amid Chaos

(Far Left) Actors prepare for the opening scene of a musical performed in a bunker in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, on March 20.

(Above) People sort through donated goods inside the opera house.

(Left) Ivano-Frankivsk Theater Director Rostislav Derzhypilskyy.

tional Presidential Orchestra of Ukraine, was born in Ivano-Frankivsk and has an apartment in the city and a house in the village nearby. He gave both places up to refugees and now sleeps in a barebones room at the theater. Grygoriv’s wife and children have fled to Ireland.

“We’re not composers now. We’re just people training for the army,” Grygoriv told Insight. “Our country is going through an unprecedented tragedy.”

“We’re learning to load Kalashnikovs, not practicing piano,” he said, listing several weapons he’s learned to operate.

Though three weeks have passed since the war began, Razumeiko said he was still too shaken to compose or play an instrument. Composing music about the war as it happens would be “fake art,” he told Insight.

“It’s impossible to play, to express some aesthetic at this time,” Razumeiko said. “Your body cannot do it. OK, you can play mechanically on the piano. But you can’t sing, because it’s physically im-

possible to do.”

Razumeiko and Grygoriv were scheduled to perform one of their compositions on March 20 at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City. The two composers are now unable to leave the country due to a decree which prohibits men of fighting age from leaving Ukraine. Instead of playing the scheduled piece, the music center in New York played a portion of a marathon seven-hour improvisational performance Razumeiko and Grygoriv livestreamed upon arriving in Ivano-Frankivsk. The performance is largely noise and clatter, an intentional choice to portray the chaos and destruction of war.

The title of the piece is “Mariupol,” the name of an eastern Ukrainian port city that’s now encircled by Russian forces.

The city’s residential zones suffered some of the worst damage in the war to date. The city is a key target for the Russian military because it’s home to the Azov Battalion, a controversial military unit that receives official recognition

and armaments from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. The U.S. Congress prohibited any U.S. support of Azov in 2018 because the group accepted members with explicit neo-Nazi views.

Film director Oles Sanin, standing beside rows of cement beds resting on shockproof springs, told Insight that he’s doing his part as a creator to promote Ukrainian culture in a time of war. Part of his crew is planning to join the volunteer territorial defense forces once his latest film is completed.

“The movie screen is likewise our national territory. We’re also fighting on this territory,” Sanin said.

Oleksiy Gnatkovskiy, the lead actor of the theater, also sees his work as contributing to the war.

“Everyone has their weapons. The soldiers have their weapons. Our weapon is art,” Gnatkovskiy told Insight. “We’re supposed to defend our country in many ways. We help keep our people coolheaded, help relieve their stress.”

NTD’s Dan Skorbach contributed to this report.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 39

E XC L U S I V E

Terror Funding in Kashmir

Pakistan is channeling money to militant groups in Kashmir through a medical scholarship program, an Indian investigator says

N

By Venus Upadhayaya ew delhi—pakistan is funding terrorism in Indian-administered Kashmir through a medical scholarship program, according to an Indian investigator.

The accusation adds to a long-held Indian claim that Pakistan is backing separatist militants in the region, which is one of the world’s most dangerous geopolitical flashpoints.

The official program, the Pakistan Technical Assistance Program (PTAP), sponsors family members of slain jihadist separatists in India-administered Kashmir to study medicine in Pakistani universities, Abhinav Pandya, an independent investigator, told Insight.

The program also accepts candidates recommended by Kashmiri separatist leaders, he said. Pakistan’s intelligence service has allocated these scholarships across several separatist groups who then charge Kashmiri students to receive recommendations, allowing these organizations to raise funds to support their militant activities in the region, according to Pandya, a counterterrorism analyst with field research experience in Kashmir.

A report on his investigation, obtained by Insight, states that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) allocated 100 medical degree placements for the 2020–21 academic year to five separatist organizations. These groups charged students between $26,000 and $33,000 for each spot.

Through this “sophisticated method” of raising funds, the separatist outfits have already generated more than $1 million this past year, according to Pandya.

During the past decade, Kashmir,

40 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

which is home to 1 percent of India’s population, received 10 percent of the country’s development budget, while larger states such as Uttar Pradesh, which has a population of more than 200 million people and a higher rate of poverty, got far less development aid, he said.

“The aid and subsidy provided by the center form the key component of the economic lifeline of Kashmir,” Pandya said. “However, the locals use the same money to buy [bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery] seats in Pakistan. A large part of the federal aid ends up oiling the engine of the [Pakistani]-backed terrorist ecosystem.”

More funds are expected to be generated, as 100 more seats will be allocated soon for the next school year, according to Pandya.

The spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry didn’t respond by press time to a request by Insight for details about how students from Indian-administered Kashmir are enrolled under PTAP.

Beneficiaries According to the investigation, 21 scholarship spots under PTAP for the 2020–21 academic year were assigned to Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami and other small organizations, which would have netted them about $550,000 for that year.

India banned Jamaat-e-Islami under the country’s anti-terror laws in 2019, citing the group’s ties to militant organizations. In 2021, India’s counterterrorism agency conducted raids on more than 50 locations allegedly connected to the group in Kashmir and Jammu as part of a terror funding probe.

U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) has previously sounded the alarm on the Isla-

International Kashmir Dispute

(Left) Residents stand next to the remains of their destroyed houses following crossborder shelling between Pakistani and Indian forces in the village of Tehjain in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Nov. 14, 2020. (Bottom Left) Indian Kashmiri students traveling back to their colleges in Pakistan wait at the Attari-Wagah borderpost in India on Nov. 4, 2020. (Bottom Right) Jihadi Islamists in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistanadministered Kashmir, on Oct. 27, 2013.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 41

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: SAJJAD QAYYUM/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, NARINDER NANU/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, SAJJAD QAYYUM/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

mist group’s influence across South Asia, saying it’s tied to separatist violence in Kashmir.

“Through violent actions, JeI seek to silence the voices of others and discourage participation in democracy. Much of the violence in Kashmir is linked to the organizations related to Jamaat-e-Islami and its terrorist partners,” Banks said during a 2019 seminar hosted by the Middle East Forum, a Washington-based think tank.

He also introduced a resolution in 2019 calling attention to Jamaat-e-Islami and affiliated theocratic extremist groups that it states “pose an immediate and ongoing threat to stability and secular democracy in South Asia.”

Pandya said that his investigation shows that the ISI has directed Jamaat-e-Islami and other separatist organizations inside Jammu and Kashmir to generate funds through the scholarship program for the purpose of “creating unrest” in the region.

Of the remaining scholarship placements for the 2020–21 academic year, 32 spots were allocated to United Jihad Council (UJC), 21 for All Party Hurriyat Conference, six for the Geelani Hurriyat group, and six for the Mirwaiz Hurriyat group, according to the investigation.

The UJC is an umbrella organization of various jihadist outfits, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Hizbul Mujahideen. The council is headquartered in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and is headed by the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, who has been labeled by the United States as a “specially designated global terrorist.”

UJC’s Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkare-Taiba, and Jaish-e-Mohammad have been designated by the United States

International Kashmir Dispute

A copy of a letter dated Feb. 1, from the section officer of the Pakistan Technical Assistant Program of the Pakistani Ministry of Economic Affairs, with a list of 37 Kashmiri recipients of scholarships for the first year of MBBS studies. Names have been blurred to protect their identities.

42 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

phisticated rackets to generate funds for their operations in Kashmir for about two decades, according to Pandya. But India only started seriously looking into this issue in 2010, when it established its counterterrorism body, the National Investigation Agency. The agency started to put a greater focus on enforcement efforts in 2014.

In late 2021, Indian authorities filed charges against nine separatists for allegedly illegally selling medical degree placements in Pakistan to Kashmiri students. Authorities said the separatists were involved in several instances where parents were forced to pay extra for the placements or were duped into paying for the spots.

Controversy The alleged sale of medical degree placements to generate funding for militant activities in Kashmir previously came to

“A large part of the federal aid ends up oiling the engine of the Pak[istan]backed terrorist ecosystem.”

Abhinav Pandya, independent investigator

light after a senior Kashmiri separatist leader resigned in 2020, alleging differences over financial matters with other separatist factions.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the chairperson of All Party Hurriyat Conference, one of the separatist organizations involved in the scheme, resigned, alleging “financial irregularities” in one of the organization’s chapters.

Hurriyat sources told The Indian Express, a leading Indian daily newspaper, that these financial irregularities were over the alleged sale of medical degree seats in Pakistan. Geelani’s own granddaughters allegedly studied medicine in Pakistan under this program, according to the newspaper. After the issue of alleged corruption surfaced, the All Party Hurriyat Conference stopped issuing recommendation letters to Kashmiri students in 2018.

Insight reached out to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry about the allegations but didn’t receive a response by press time.

The resulting uproar in India led New Dehli to start derecognizing some of these courses and increase scrutiny on Kashmiri students crossing its borders.

This has resulted in the Pakistani establishment continuing the operations through different routes, according to Pandya.

“So now they are sending these Kashmiri students to Gulf countries like Dubai, Saudi, Turkey, and from there, they are routed to Pakistan, where they’re studying these courses,” he said.

THIS PAGE: COURTESY INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR, ABHINAV PANDYA

as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” and are also banned terrorist organizations in India.

For the 2021–22 school year, 37 students from Indian-administered Kashmir were awarded the PTAP scholarship, according to a Feb. 1 letter obtained by Insight from a PTAP Section Officer of Pakistan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs to the secretary of the Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department of the Punjab provincial government.

The letter was also copied to Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior, a director and assistant director at Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the president of the Pakistan Medical Commission, and other government officials in Pakistan.

Kashmir students have been able to participate in the Pakistani scholarship program even though the two countries don’t permit citizens to travel to each others’ territories on student visas—and despite warnings by Indian authorities to Kashmiri students against taking up such plans.

“However, students are bypassing the procedure by traveling on tourist visas for attending the sponsored programs,” Pandya said, pointing to recent reports of about 57 Kashmiri youth who went to Pakistan for higher education between 2017 and 2018 on tourist visas and became terrorists, with some even returning to Kashmir with arms.

Militant groups have used various so-

P OL I T IC S • E C ONOM Y • OPI N ION T H AT M AT T E R S

Perspectives

No.12

Traders, brokers, and clerks work at the London Metal Exchange on Sept. 6, 2021.

PHOTO BY LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES

SPINELESS FED Can the central bank exercise independence in the inflation fight? 44

A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME? The idea to give a free cash stipend to everyone is wrongheaded. 46

THE NICKEL MARKET FIASCO How a Chinese mining tycoon causes chaos in the metals market. 47

INSIDE I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 43

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

Thomas McArdle

Spineless Fed

Can the central bank exercise independence in the inflation fight?

I

n 1984, nobel economics laureate Milton Friedman said he would replace the Federal Reserve Board with a computer, a machine programmed to increase the money supply by no more than about 2 percent a year. Friedman knew that a series of interconnected circuits and silicon chips would be insensitive to pressure from Washington politicians. But recent days and weeks have shown that most of the flesh-andblood members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) have less guts than Friedman’s imagined robotic monetary regulator.

On March 16, the Federal Reserve announced a tepid 25-basis-point increase in the federal funds rate, the short-term interest rate at which banks make overnight loans to one another. That means that the federal funds rate is now above the zero-tonear-zero range for the first time since 2018. As a remedy for inflation raging at a level unseen in 40 years, this is like an eyedropper substituting for a fire extinguisher.

One of the greatly brandished points of pride of the U.S. economy and financial system is the fact that we have long enjoyed the benefits of an independent central bank.

Although the proposition has recently been challenged by some interesting unconventional academic research in Europe, there is a strong, long-held consensus that countries with central banks that are, under law and in practice, exempt from direct political interference have experienced significantly lower inflation.

Accepting this notion, one would expect in the current environment something like the following scenario: a Federal Reserve chairman announcing to the public that major rises in interest rates are about to begin and that the equity markets and borrowers should prepare for some sour medicine.

44 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

Yet what we found was New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams last month saying he did not “see any compelling argument to take a big step at the beginning” of the Fed’s new policy of rate hikes. We also have Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, still unconfirmed in his re-nomination by President Joe Biden, talking happy talk that “the economy is very strong and well positioned to withstand tighter monetary policy,” that it won’t just “withstand but certainly flourish, as well” (emphasis added) despite the coming rate hikes, and that “the probability of a recession within the next year is not particularly elevated.”

One of the greatly brandished points of pride of the U.S. economy and financial system is the fact that we have long enjoyed the benefits of an independent central bank.

This is wishful thinking at a bad time by someone who should know better. The yield curve, which differentiates longer and shorter-term Treasury securities and is a key indicator of economic weakness, is flattening fast. Clinton Treasury secretary and Obama senior economic adviser Larry Summers just warned of much higher inflation next year—three percentage points, at variance to the 4.3 percent inflation rate the Fed officially expects at the end of this year—and the risk of a consequent “wage-price spiral.”

But why should we expect the Fed to be serious when, like so much of the rest of government, it’s turning woke faster than gas prices are rising?

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virgin-

ia, very nearly the only Democrat in Congress willing to dissent from some of his party’s environmentalist fanaticism, recently killed Biden’s nomination for the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, green activist Sarah Bloom Raskin, who would likely have encouraged private lenders to disfavor the oil and gas industry at a time of severe and ongoing rising fossil fuel prices.

Equally disturbing at least, Nova Southeastern University finance scholar Emre Kuvvet, in an Independent Review article previewed in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, revealed that nearly all of the Federal Reserve system’s 780 economists are affiliated with the Democratic Party.

And as inflation rages out of control, they have somehow found the time to focus “on issues such as climate change, race and sex discrimination, and economic inequality.” Among the Fed’s most senior economists, who are in leadership positions, “the Democrat-to-Republican ratio is 22.25 to 1,” Kuvvet discovered.

With such staff around him, it’s less shocking to find Powell saying things that may leave voters less angry at the party in power on Election Day this November.

Now that we know for sure Powell’s timid strategy, Americans will have to look elsewhere to fight inflation– like demanding the liberation of the country’s energy companies, allowing them to drill for oil and gas to the maximum extent, a move that would bring gasoline prices down dramatically and produce a massive ripple effect to dampen overall inflation.

Of course, the Biden administration, at war with fossil fuels, will never do any such thing. So all Americans can do is contemplate what point there is to having an independent Federal Reserve when those appointed to run it have neither the brains nor the spine to exercise their independence.

ANDERS CORR is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc., publisher of the Journal of Political Risk. He is an expert in political science and government.

Anders Corr

Volkswagen Panders to China

Profits overrule all else, including ESG, for the German company

olkswagen (vw) doesn’t seem to care much about China’s support of Russia during its Ukraine invasion. Neither, apparently, is the German company showing exceeding concern about the genocide in Xinjiang, China, (where it has a factory that employs about 650 people).

VW isn’t quite committed to an increase in its manufacturing in the United States, where, in 2021, it sold more than 375,000 vehicles, as well as additional “units” from its subsidiaries, Porsche, Audi, and Skoda.

China, on the other hand, is the company’s “gold mine,” according to a former executive who was quoted in a March 16 Financial Times (FT) article. VW deliveries in China peaked at approximately 4 million per year between 2017 and 2019. That number fell to 3.3 million in 2021.

VW is working to rebuild sales there, perhaps in vain given the increasing Chinese competition. The strategy for countering this in a nationalist state such as China is to make VW more Chinese and less German. So Beijing gets outward displays of allegiance— so much so that VW is the only foreign car company to get not only two joint ventures with Chinese state-owned enterprises, but a third, over which it has “majority” ownership.

However, that majority stake doesn’t matter much in China, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) knows how to tighten the screws on businesses of any “nationality” to get exactly what it wants.

Sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine are apparently making VW executives nervous about their business in China, which could also be economically targeted by democracies and their allies if Chinese Leader Xi Jinping has his way and invades Taiwan. According to purported intel-

ligence leaked from Russia, China had plans to invade this fall.

If Russia is any guide, that could mean that VW would have to pull out entirely from China, which would more than halve its profits.

This is probably the best explanation for why the company’s CEO, Herbert Diess, is working to smooth feathers and double down on his commitment to making more money in China. He acknowledges that China now has greater leverage over the company than the other way around.

If Russia is any guide, that could mean that Volkswagen would have to pull out entirely from China, which would more than halve its profits.

“China probably doesn’t need VW, but VW needs China a lot,” Diess said in 2021.

That has changed since the early 1980s, when VW first entered China.

Since then, at least some at the company realized that technology transfer made China “a ticking clock” that would eventually overtake VW with its own Chinese vehicle manufacturers.

Stephan Wöllenstein, head of Chinese operations for Volkswagen, is apparently knuckling under to ubiquitous CCP demands to give China more control. He said VW is quickly adapting to the need to gain from running the company more from within China, where VW’s new software chiefs, for example, are now “mainly of Asian heritage,” according to the FT’s Frankfurt correspondent, Joe Miller.

Wöllenstein said VW gets “preferential treatment” in China, where its majority stake in a joint venture indicates the “specific trust that the Chinese government has in the Volkswagen group.”

In 2022, Diess told the FT: “We will remain in China. We will invest. ... We are there to stay.” Despite VW’s declining sales in the country, he believes it “will be by far the biggest growth market for the foreseeable future.”

“If we would constrain our business to only established democracies, which account for about 7 to 9 percent of world population, and this is shrinking, then clearly there would not be any viable business model for an auto manufacturer,” he said on March 15.

Diess earns approximately $12 million annually, according to Bloomberg.

Apparently, pandering to a genocidal regime that pumps out most of the world’s pollution is worth the money.

The CEO is supported by his board.

The FT quoted a member who hoped the Ukraine war would take the German government’s focus off China.

“They are very concerned now with the Ukrainian war. ... This German government has become very fast, very pragmatic,” the board member said.

Germany and VW need to get with the times and support democratic rather than dictatorial countries as part of their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments.

That should mean pulling out of China entirely rather than continuing the technology transfer and building up the totalitarian country economically to the point of it being able to invade a peaceful neighbor such as Taiwan.

But don’t count on Volkswagen to do this by itself. The company’s management is too focused on making short-term profits and insufficiently concerned about the long-term effect of those profits on the viability of democracy globally.

To fix the issue, democratic governments in the United States and Europe could sanction or tariff companies more broadly that continue to collaborate with the CCP. I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 45

MILTON EZRATI is chief economist for Vested, a contributing editor at The National Interest, and author of "Thirty Tomorrows" and "Bite-Sized Investing.”

Milton Ezrati

A Universal Basic Income?

The idea to give a free cash stipend to everyone is wrongheaded

T

oday’s geopolitical emergency has driven domestic policy proposals off the front pages. In time, however, they’ll reemerge.

One idea that’s sure to see the light of day is the notion of a universal basic income (UBI), in which the government gives every citizen a regular cash handout, regardless of need.

Like a bad penny, UBI proposals have emerged with regularity over time—from journalists, tech barons, politicians, and academics. Each proposal differs slightly from the last, but all are wrongheaded.

Advocates of UBI exist in quarters of society. On the left, a deep if often misguided effort to help the disadvantaged prompts academics and journalists to advocate for the handout. Tech barons, including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Sir Richard Branson see a UBI as the only way to avoid social unrest as artificial intelligence, they predict, brings on mass unemployment.

Libertarians and others on the right, including the likes of Milton Friedman, would relieve the economy of government interference by using UBI as a substitute for welfare, Social Security, and other intrusive support programs. The dollar amounts differ, as do the details, but all are essentially alike—and flawed.

At the very least, all would impose an unconscionable expense on the taxpayer. The Commerce Department has conservatively estimated that a national UBI would increase already bloated federal spending by roughly 50 percent, about 15 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. And this is far from the only problem.

If, as many suggest, a UBI were to substitute for some or all federal support programs, the effort would pit

46 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

one group in society against another and consequently create tremendous political problems. For example, were UBI to substitute for Social Security and Medicare, it would effectively transfer some available funds from the old to the young.

Using UBI as a substitute for disability insurance would amount to a transfer from the disabled to the able-bodied. A broad distribution in place of welfare or unemployment insurance would replace a program aimed at those in need with one aimed at everyone. Of course, the nation could simply add a UBI on top of these more targeted programs, but that would add astronomically to the cost.

The Commerce Department has conservatively estimated that a national UBI would increase already bloated federal spending by roughly 50 percent.

The vulnerabilities of the disadvantaged would make UBI a poor substitute for family support. These programs currently include demands such as drug tests and home visits because their recipients often have trouble managing their lives, much less their finances. Noteworthy in this regard are Census Bureau estimates that 11 million American adults barely have basic literacy skills and about 30 million have difficulty completing basic financial forms.

Without the guidance and strictures of present arrangements, many of the less fortunate recipients of these stipends would find themselves either bilked out of them or would spend them too quickly. Surely, even

dyed-in-the-wool libertarians would balk at telling financial incompetents who have spent their monthly allowance too fast to tighten their collective belts and simply await the next check.

If these considerations weren’t reason enough to reject UBI, compelling evidence has emerged from various trials. A Labor Department study of people on unemployment discovered that they spent more time in front of the television and sleeping than—as some UBI proponents insist they would—upgrading their working skills. A similar study on disability recipients revealed the same patterns.

So did the results of four federal pilot programs on negative income tax, a variant of UBI. Implemented between 1968 and 1980 and involving thousands of people across six states, these pilot programs found that hours of work by all recipients fell roughly 9 percent below those outside the program, about 20 percent for married women and 25 percent among single women heads of household. Desired work among single men fell roughly 43 percent below nonrecipients. If those receiving the negative income tax lost their jobs, the spell of unemployment lasted two months longer on average than with nonrecipients and 12 months longer for married women.

Beyond these undeniable problems is one other, which is hard to quantify but may be the most important.

Simply giving people the means to acquire necessities and the material pleasures of life would effectively make every citizen a ward of the state. That’s fine for children. But in adults, it would undermine the sense of independence and self-reliance that fosters self-respect. It would create a nation of sheep and do considerable harm to people—perhaps even destroy them.

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

The Nickel Market Fiasco

How a Chinese mining tycoon causes chaos in the metals market

BANNU MAZANDRA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

N

ick el tr a ding resumed on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on March 16 after being suspended for more than a week.

The exchange took an unprecedented step to halt trading in the nickel market on March 8 after a Chinese metal tycoon faced billions of dollars in losses because of a large short position.

In early March, nickel’s price skyrocketed, crossing the $100,000-perton mark for the first time. This was a large spike compared to the prices that averaged $24,016 per metric ton in February. The extreme volatility forced the LME to suspend trading for the first time since 1988.

The base metal is an increasingly important component in the production of next-generation electric vehicle batteries for companies such as Tesla. Advocates of a green energy push see rising nickel prices as a threat to U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate agenda.

To avoid large swings in price, the exchange announced that it would apply daily upper and lower price limits.

The huge spike in nickel price was mainly driven by a short squeeze centered on Chinese tycoon Xiang Guangda, founder of Tsingshan Holding Group, one of the world’s biggest nickel and stainless steel producers.

Nicknamed “Big Shot” in China, Xiang is known for having confidence in making huge bets, according to Bloomberg. He believes the prices of nickel will fall because of a dramatic increase in supply. However, many hedge fund managers don’t share his view.

When nickel’s trading price surged dramatically, Tsingshan struggled to pay margin calls, putting its creditors in a difficult position.

There’s a widespread rumor in the market that the Chinese regime may have influenced the London Metal Exchange.

The price rise was further fueled as brokers and bankers of Tsingshan rushed to buy back nickel contracts to stem losses. The exchange stopped nickel trading after several small brokers claimed that they would default if prices remained at record levels, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

Matthew Chamberlain, CEO of the LME, defended the exchange’s decision to suspend nickel trading, saying it was the right thing for the long-term stability of the market.

The exchange canceled all 5,000 nickel trades executed on March 8, worth nearly $4 billion.

The LME’s move has angered some market participants who lost out on profits from the cancellation of trade.

“Stealing money from market participants trading in good faith and giving it to Chinese nickel producers and their banks—who could have absorbed the losses–yea, integrity,” Clifford Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital

Management, which oversees $140 billion in funds, wrote on Twitter.

Mark Thompson, a metals trader and executive vice chairman at Tungsten West, also shared his frustration on Twitter.

“For the LME to cancel nickel trades between willing buyers and sellers is unforgiveable. UNFORGIVEABLE,” he wrote.

Tsingshan has reportedly reached a deal with its bankers and brokers, including JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered to avoid defaulting on its margin calls. According to media reports, the agreement has given Tsingshan and its creditors time to hammer out a deal on a new credit facility for the payment of margin.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has owned the LME since 2012. There’s a widespread rumor in the market that the Chinese regime may have influenced the LME’s decision, as Tsingshan is strategically important to the country.

LME’s decision to shut down trading “is going to be litigated for a long time,” according to Christopher Balding, a China economist and a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.

“Let me repeat that: the LME a major global commodity exchange shut down trading in nickel so a Chinese company wouldn’t go bankrupt,” he wrote on Twitter.

The banks are taking a longer view, as they think it’s a temporary anomaly, according to a senior executive at an investment management firm in New York who wished to remain anonymous.

“They don’t want to bust a perfectly healthy company in a normal situation and lose a revenue stream because they’re providing ongoing lending and brokerage services,” he told Insight.

According to ING Bank, nickel prices will remain high in 2022 because of structural issues in the market.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 47

DANIEL LACALLE is chief economist at hedge fund Tressis and author of “Freedom or Equality,” “Escape from the Central Bank Trap,” and “Life in the Financial Markets.”

Daniel Lacalle

Can the EU Achieve Energy Independence?

European governments should think hard about misguided policies

E

48 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

All the ‘magical’ alternatives that interventionism sells mean going from depending on Russia to depending on China. soaring and wholesale electricity prices reaching record-high levels by December 2021.

Europe doesn’t “depend on Russian gas.” It’s a codependency. Russia needs Europe to export, and Europe has no cheaper alternative. Let’s remember that Russian gas is much cheaper than any other realistic alternative.

The only alternative to Russia is to show that European countries have diversified and cheap sources of supply. If Russia sees that European governments ban nuclear power, prohibit the development of indigenous gas reserves, intervene in imports, and add massive taxes like the cost of CO2 permits, Russian authorities know there’s no competitive alternative, and that European industry and consumers will collapse due to the rising cost of energy.

European governments should think hard about misguided policies when the continent has been saved this win-

ter by natural gas imported from the United States produced by fracking, which has been banned in Europe.

Europe wants cheap and abundant energy, but politicians demonize nuclear, gas, and oil.

Natural gas flows all the time and is cheap and abundant. It can’t be substituted with renewables that are intermittent, volatile, and unpredictable. The example of Germany is clear. After investing massively in renewables and doubling bills for consumers, it depends more on lignite-coal and Russian gas to guarantee supply. Germany has had to reactivate coal plants after spending more than $200 billion in subsidies and renewable costs.

All technologies are necessary, and renewables are key, but they’re not the alternative, because they need natural gas backup while the technology is developed, as it’s still in its infancy.

Let’s not forget that massively installing renewables includes a huge cost in networks. Who will lower bills if the fixed cost of networks is multiplied with the $150 billion we estimate are needed to strengthen distribution and transmission networks?

All the “magical” alternatives that interventionism sells mean going from depending on Russia to depending on China. Where are we going to get the silicon, aluminum, rare earths, copper, lithium, and so forth necessary for those massive announced magical investments?

It’s absurd to maintain the hidden tax scheme of CO2 emissions permits during an unprecedented crisis.

Governments must use this income to reduce citizens’ bills.

A true energy transition must be competitive, reliable, and cheap, not a tax collection and looting machine. It must consider all technologies. More industry and less politics. More competition and less ideology.

CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES

urope isn’t going to achieve a competitive energy transition with the current interventionist policies. Europe doesn’t depend on Russian gas due to a coincidence, but because of a chain of mistaken policies: banning nuclear in Germany and prohibiting the development of domestic natural gas resources throughout the European Union, combined with a massive and expensive renewable rollout without building a reliable backup.

Solar and wind don’t reduce dependency on Russian natural gas. They’re necessary but volatile and intermittent. They need backup for security of supply from nuclear, hydro, and natural gas. Dependency rises in periods of low wind and little sun, just when prices are highest.

Batteries aren’t an option either. It’s impossible to build an industrial-size network of enormous batteries; the cost would be prohibitive, and the dependency on China to build them (lithium and so on) would be even more of a problem. At current prices, a battery storage system of Europe’s size would cost more than $2.5 trillion, according to an MIT Technology Review paper—massively more expensive than any other alternative.

Just the added cost of a battery grid plus the distribution and transmission network would make household bills soar even further.

Inflation was already out of control in Europe before the invasion of Ukraine was even a risk. The consumer price index (CPI) in Spain was 7.6 percent, in Portugal it was 4.2 percent, and in Germany, 5.1 percent. The euro area CPI was 5.8 percent.

In the face of the impact on prices and energy from the invasion of Ukraine, we must remember: Europe was already in an energy crisis in 2020 and 2021 with the cost of CO2 permits

Fan Yu

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

China’s New Currency Gambit

STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

How far will China go to flout Western sanctions in order to weaken the US?

ussia’s war in ukraine, as well as the West’s response thus far, has been a gift to China.

The West’s strict sanctions on Russia have isolated the country from much of the world. It needs a financial lifeline.

Russia is a major producer and exporter of commodities such as crude oil, gas, wheat, diamonds, and other minerals. At one time, the value of its paper money was derived from the commodities backing it.

With the sanctions in place, the global commodities market is now fragmented. For example, we have non-Russian produced oil with a price that’s skyrocketing, while Russian oil has fewer takeout channels and can be bought at a significant discount.

Much of the ongoing discourse has been focused on the question of how much China is willing to help Russia.

But I believe the question should really be: How far will China go to flout Western sanctions in order to help itself and weaken the United States?

Natural resources are a national security issue, a fact U.S. lawmakers spent years trying to dismiss. But with the war in Ukraine, we’ve only recently been forced to recognize this.

Beijing sees it clearly. China has been trying to secure energy supply for decades. Earlier in 2022, China signed a 30-year gas supply deal with Russia’s Gazprom. In February, it reached a deal to increase wheat imports from Russia. Russia’s status as an outcast gives Beijing an opportunity to secure valuable commodities while making Russia more reliant on China, its currency, and its financial network.

Let’s get the obvious points out of the way. Beijing is under scrutiny, especially about whether its companies would violate “secondary” sanctions imposed by the United States, such as providing materials to sanctioned

China could use this opportunity to finally create an alternative to the dollar hegemony and rewind the global economic backdrop to the Cold War era.

Russian firms. It’s a legal gray area.

But China has extensive infrastructure in place to circumvent sanctions.

The Chinese regime has enough non-dollar-facing financial infrastructure in place and experience in creating off-balance-sheet vehicles to procure Russian commodities.

The bigger picture implications on future global trade are more worrisome.

Global sanctions have effectively frozen Russia’s foreign reserves. This raises a key question for China and other countries that are less tied to the U.S.–Europe hegemony—if or when they run afoul of the West, would their accounts also be confiscated?

And given this risk, should they diversify some reserves away from the dollar?

Enter China and its currency (gold and bitcoin are other options, but the scope of this column is on China’s currency).

China has been pushing the

renminbi for international trade without much success, even after the establishment of its Belt and Road program. China and Russia have been decrying the dollar as de facto global trade currency.

China could use this opportunity to finally create an alternative to the dollar hegemony and rewind the global economic backdrop to the Cold War era. To a third-party neutral country, the broken commodity market could induce the country to buy oil at a discount from China rather than paying a premium for non-Russian-sourced oil. That could be the beginning of a new global order and everything China had wished for when it created its digital renminbi.

The financial magazine Barron’s recently pointed out that this war has been “one of the few times that investors fleeing riskier assets have turned to the renminbi.” According to Jefferies global strategist Sean Darby, Russia seems to have already “quasi” pegged the ruble currency to the renminbi since 2021 in the “first real evidence of de-dollarization.”

And it’s not just Russia. Saudi Arabia—whose relationship with the United States has cooled in recent years—is reportedly considering accepting the renminbi instead of the dollar for oil purchases from China.

Credit Suisse rates strategist Zoltan Pozsar wrote in a March note that this is the start of a new global monetary order powered by Asian currencies backed by a basket of commodities.

The Ukraine war and the sanctions on Russia will cause China to buy up and store commodities, in turn strengthening the renminbi (increasingly backed by real assets) and destabilizing the dollar (backed by only credit) while worsening the inflation crisis in the West.

In essence, it would severely hurt U.S. and European economies.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 49

JEFF MINICK lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. He is the author of two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.”

Jeff Minick

American Voices: Harbingers of Hope Fellow Americans fill me with hope for the future

N

o matter where you stand politically right now, our economy and our public square look about as cheery as the gray winter yard outside my living room window. The pessimistic commentators that I visit online daily deliver dreary reports of inflation, rising crime, the breakdown of our supply chains, the failures of our schools, and a long list of other grim revelations.

Closer to home, my favorite coffee shop is running out of lids for their cups, the shelves at the liquor store are half-empty, steaks now cost as much as what I paid two years ago to fill the tank of my Honda Civic, and the war between Russia and Ukraine and the skyrocketing costs of gas are dominating our conversations like Uncle Billy Bob talking about sports at Thanksgiving.

All of this bad news brings to mind the old “Hee-Haw” song: “Gloom, despair, and agony on me/Deep, dark depression, excessive misery.”

But hope abides, and this week that hope burst like sunshine from a black cloud when I met yet another fellow American via a telephone interview— this time, a successful, 40-something woman from the Northeast.

Over the past five years, I’ve conducted approximately 60 such interviews with different folks, most of them by phone. One was with an American woman in Belgium who was in Wuhan, China, when COVID-19 first made its appearance in that city. Another interview involved a wife who was caring for her dying husband. Others included a renowned local painter, a couple of college professors, about two dozen homeschooling moms, a bright teenage girl with some strong takes on politics and faith, the widow of a police officer killed in the line of duty, and

50 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

They had assumed responsibility for their triumphs and defeats. educators and counselors associated with the Seton Home Study School.

All of these men and women had faced dark times: the death of a spouse or child, illness, divorce, the loss of a job, estrangement from their grown children or parents, the struggle to put food on the table for their families. Few of us reach middle age without acquiring scars from battles won and lost.

And while these people were as different from one another as might be expected, I realize now that all of them shared three traits of character: resilience, a deep joy in living, and a belief in a supreme being.

For whatever reason—perhaps it was the vibrancy, the spirit, in the voice of that woman with whom I most recently conversed, who had overcome so many obstacles—after concluding that interview, I realized that all of the voices of these strangers I had spoken with over these past

many months had echoed with her same resilience and joy. Despite all of the challenges and ordeals these men and women had confronted, none of them had sounded defeated, dulled, or embittered by their experiences.

They had absorbed the hits thrown at them and stayed in the ring. They had chosen certain pathways of life and had assumed responsibility for their triumphs and defeats.

And nearly all of them credited their religious faith as a source of their strength.

Remembering those many voices last week made me proud to be an American. Here were people who loved freedom, their families and friends, and God, who accepted the heavy burdens that life and liberty impose, and who had resolved to keep up the good fight. Here, in short, were the same sort of doers and thinkers who had made this country great.

Our times may be dark and tumultuous, but now that I have recollected them in my memory, these voices from across America fill me with hope for our future.

If you listen for them, you’ll hear them, too.

Profile Everyday Heroes

By Patrick Butler

Helping War-worn Refugees

COURTESY OF JIM LEACH

An American couple living in Romania finds a new mission amidst war

steady stream of refugees from Ukraine heading into Romania are finding their way to American Jim Leach and his wife, Becky, who had been leading a team of full-time volunteers to aid Romanian orphans over the past five years.

At least, he said, that’s what they did until two weeks ago.

“Then the war started and people came streaming across the border,” Leach said via a live internet interview with Insight on March 10.

“We couldn’t say ‘no’ to people needing help. Now, we are serving refugees day and night, nonstop, at our facilities in Cluj-Napoca.”

Cluj-Napoca is a city of about 700,000, about three hours south of the Ukrainian border.

“The refugees come, we feed them and give them a comfy bed to sleep on. Most stay for a few days, then move on to where they are going, and the beds fill up again immediately. There are never times we have empty beds. They just don’t stop coming.”

Jim said he and his wife are members of Youth With a Mission, an all-volunteer Christian agency, and were already working with the orphans out of an expansive property in Cluj-Napoca.

There are three large buildings on the grounds, run by a staff of 20 international volunteers.

When the war across the border didn’t end quickly, they were suddenly thrust into something new, with decisions to make.

“The dynamic of aiding refugees changes daily with every new family,” Leach said. “You have to be flexible because each situation is different, and we chose to do that.”

Choosing the quality of their out-

Jim and Becky Leach are the leaders of a team of 20 unpaid, full-time volunteers working with orphans in Romania. They have been running caravans of supplies to the interior of Ukraine using a network of similar orphan-relief centers there. reach to refugees, instead of simply quantity, was a “must,” Leach said.

“The people coming are very sad and withdrawn,” he said.

“They are broken down, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Entire families come here because if there are three children, husbands are allowed to come out. I told our staff, ‘We’re not here just to feed them and give them a bed. We need to sit down and listen to them; befriend them; laugh or cry and pray with them.

“We can’t bypass that, so we do that with anyone and everyone who comes to us. It doesn’t matter if they are believers or not. We help them all.”

Donations have been flooding into the center at an unprecedented rate, Leach said.

“The giving hearts of people, internationally, to us has been over-

whelming. And the Romanians have been more generous now than I have ever seen,” he said. “They opened their borders, letting people in without passports or proof of COVID vaccinations, which had been required.

“They’re giving free train transportation to refugees. I’m so proud of them for how they are responding.”

The donated food, medical, and baby supplies to the Leaches’ team are taken into Ukraine each week by van caravan, six hours to a maternity hospital. It’s a stressful experience, said Leach, who was in the first caravan.

“To get to the hospital, we go through eight Ukrainian military checkpoints. They ask a lot of pointed, aggressive questions at each one: ‘Are you Russians; are you armed?” and so on. It’s very intense.”’

Helping war-worn refugees is demanding, he said.

“Our team is preparing logistically and mentally to be doing this for a year,” Leach said. “That way, we’ll be prepared for the long-term. We’ll be happily surprised if it’s only a shortterm need.”

New construction already happening on the Youth With a Mission property will aid more incoming refugees.

“Once that’s completed, we’ll be able to handle 60 people, instead of 30,” he said.

Donations needed for his team include short-term volunteers, certain medical items, and finances.

“It’s so expensive to ship items to Romania and takes so long that money is the easiest way to donate.

“That way, we can buy specifically what refugees need when they need it, and move the supplies immediately.

“Please pray for us—for endurance, wisdom, and strength.”

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 51

Nation Profile

James Lindsay is the author of “Race Marxism” and the founder of New Discourses.

THOUGHT LEADERS

The New Religion How Marxists substituted race for economic class

T

hey’re effective at what they do,” James Lindsay says, “which is dividing everyday people while the people at the top can conquer.”

52 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

MR . JEKIELEK: So, James,

today you’ve launched your new book, “Race Marxism: The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis.”

You’re basically saying

critical race theory is race Marxism. What happened?

How does this work?

MR . LINDSAY: I’ve read a

lot of Marxist thought both from Karl Marx himself and Engels, and the so-called neo-Marxists or critical Marxists such as Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and most importantly, Herbert Marcuse. What I realized is that Marxism

changed. It evolved, if you will. They would say it has dialectically synthesized into new forms.

With the evolution of critical race theory, we have a variant that replaces economic class with race, but otherwise uses exactly the same motifs. It’s like the same engine, different chassis, if you had a car.

So you take out the word class for understanding in-

THE EPOCH TIMES

On “American Thought Leaders,” host Jan Jekielek discusses such ideas as “woke” ideology, Herbert Marcuse’s “repressive toler-

ance,” and the theological foundations of Marxism with James Lindsay, founder of New Discourses and author of “Race Marxism: The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis.”

Nation Profile

equality and you put in race.

Gender and sex issues will also be understood through a similar lens.

MR . JEKIELEK: I under-

stand Herbert Marcuse was trying to figure out how to get the working class interested in revolution, but when he realized they weren’t interested, he looked for another group to get involved in the revolution. Am I reading that right?

MR . LINDSAY: That’s ex-

actly right. Marcuse was the most influential Marxist of the mid-20th century.

In 1969, he said the working class had grown into a middle class and become stable. They had become conservative, even a counter-revolutionary force. Feeling betrayed at that point by the working class, Marcuse looked for groups that possessed the vital needs for a socialist revolution. He asked, where can we find them? And he turned to identity politics as the answer. He pointed out the black power movement explicitly.

Marcuse said, “We need to look to the ghetto population, to the feminists, the sexual minorities, the outsiders, the unemployed.

They have the energy,” he said. They just don’t have the theory. And how do we give that to them? Through the students. We’ll create a student movement just like we saw in Paris in ‘68, just like Mao used in China, starting in ‘65, ‘66. We’ll get a student movement going, and then these people will meet up with the various

populations, such as racial minorities and sexual minorities, and tell them what their oppression means in these new Marxist terms.

So Marxism took a gigantic exit ramp and was running down a completely different interstate. They didn’t care about economics or the working class anymore. They’ve gone into identity politics whole hog ever since.

“With the evolution of critical race theory, we have a variant that replaces economic class with race, but otherwise uses exactly the same motifs of Marxism.”

MR . JEKIELEK: So the

working class became the enemy?

MR . LINDSAY: Absolutely.

And in ‘65, Marcuse wrote “Repressive Tolerance,” the essay that outlines how movements from the left must be tolerated and how movements from the right shall not be tolerated.

He makes a clear distinction between left and right, between revolutionary and reactionary, as he oversimplifies the situation.

He says there’s a tremendous difference between revolutionary violence and reactionary violence. He says violence can be used against conservatives.

Conservatives may not use violence in return.

He also says that it’s not enough to withdraw democratic tolerance from the conservatives. He says you have to stop the idea from even entering their minds.

It’s a form of censorship and even pre-censorship. He says censorship is justified because society is already censoring the revolutionary left, that it’s trying to preserve the status quo.

MR . JEKIELEK: So in

pre-censorship, you mean what’s known today as political correctness, that you can’t say certain things because you understand that you’ll be attacked if you do.

one political side while empowering and emboldening the other.

MR . JEKIELEK: Given the

recent invoking of emergency powers in Canada, how are these things related?

MR . LINDSAY: Yes. That

would be one element of pre-censorship. Anything that stops an idea from entering the mind. You get people to censor themselves.

During the 2016 presidential election, that’s exactly what outfits such as Cambridge Analytica were attempting to do with elaborate psychological profiles they had built from people taking surveys, for example, on Facebook. They used that information to tailor the algorithm for their Facebook accounts to feed people certain information, so they would only think in particular or approved ways.

And in China, under the social credit system, citizens don’t even dare to say or do the unthinkable because they might lose access to their bank account or travel.

Marcuse justifies the use of what we might call emergency powers to repress

MR . LINDSAY: Leftists are

living in the logic of Marcuse’s essay. They genuinely believe they have a right to move society forward.

We constantly live in Marcuse’s condition of clear and present danger. That’s been the mentality of the left for decades now.

I believe Marxism of all types is an entitlement complex masquerading as a political and social theory.

This entitlement to apply their theory and power is characteristic of everything they’re doing.

MR . JEKIELEK: It’s a way

to bully people, right?

MR . LINDSAY: It’s a form

of bullying. It’s also Maoism, and people just don’t recognize it as such. If you have bourgeois values or you’re rightist, then you’re labeled a counter-revolutionary.

When Larry Elder ran

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 53

Nation Profile

“[Marxism] is a form of bullying. It’s also Maoism, and people just don’t recognize it as such.” for governor of California, the L.A. Times posted an article saying he’s the black face of white supremacy, which is preposterous. Why? Because he’s conservative and holds black bourgeois values.

Dave Chappelle, a black comedian, makes jokes about trans people on one of his specials. And so someone writes an article and says he told jokes from a position of his white privilege, which is hilarious, but it’s because he’s rich and famous.

If you become politically black, if you take on the ideology of critical race theory and become a race Marxist,

only then are you authentically black.

The same thing is happening within queer theory, the same thing is happening within, say, disability studies and fat studies. They’ve all taken on this woke Marxism brand approach.

They cobble it together under what they call intersectionality. The people who have had their critical consciousness awakened are going to become the party. And it will primarily be a party of intellectuals and bureaucratic, managerial class type people.

And they’re effective at what they do, which is

dividing everyday people while the people at the top can conquer.

MR . JEKIELEK: John

McWhorter describes this wokism, for lack of a better term, as a religion. I would call it a pseudo morality, a pseudo-religion. He says, no, no, it’s exactly a religion.

What’s your take on this?

MR . LINDSAY: It’s a

religion. If you read Marx’s writings before the Communist Manifesto, it’s clear that Marx wasn’t outlining a political and social theory.

He was outlining a theology.

He had a theory of mankind and human nature.

He had what you would call a soteriology in religious circles, which is a theory of salvation.

He said we’re going to do the work, we’re going to become socialist man, and then we’ll reachieve the Garden of Eden. We’ll have the Kingdom of God brought

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

People protest against the name of two educational institutions due to their association with “white supremacy” in history, in New Orleans on July 4, 2020.

54 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

THIS PAGE: MICHAEL DEMOCKER/GETTY IMAGES

back here to earth, as a theory of salvation built in a soteriology. It’s an eschatological religion.

In other words, it has an end times. The revolution takes the place of the rapture. The socialism that follows the revolution isn’t going to see everything worked out. That’s a tribulation. But in the end, the Kingdom of God will be reestablished on earth when we have communism. So it’s an eschatological faith, as well as a theodicy, an explanation for evil.

For Marx, history had a teleology, a purpose, a trajectory, and an endpoint, which is we’re all going to become socialists. But you end up with a kind of hive mind, this collectivism that becomes totalitarianism.

At the end of history, social relations become stateless and classless. They cease to be rooted in domination and oppression, and we enter into the garden.

This is a faith. Every piece of a religious faith is present.

But Marx had hidden the fact that he was creating a theology because he had cast down God. What he put into God’s place is a man who no longer needs God. That’s what the idea of Satan is, that we shall be as gods.

So this is explicitly religious.

T R AV E L • F O O D • L U X U R Y L I V I N G

Unwind

No.12

Known for its spectacular fjords sculpted by glaciers many millennia ago, Norway is a land of enchantment.

PHOTOS BY NONTHACHAI SAKSRI/SHUTTERSTOCK

Norway: Land of Vikings THIS SPECTACULAR estate dating back to the 1940s has been extensively upgraded and is set on a bluff overlooking Malibu’s exclusive El Sol Beach. 56

ADDING SEVERAL OF THE most notable features of an ultra-luxurious spa or resort to your home can make every day a vacation. 60

58

WE SPEND MOST OF OUR waking hours at work, so add some unique touches to your workspace to make it a more productive environment. 63

INSIDE I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 55

Malibu Beachfront Estate This one-of-a-kind property sprawls across 3 acres of California’s finest beach, making it an iconic dream home

By Phil Butler

Sunrise and sunset bathe these hillsides and the beaches below in an indescribable ambiance. Here, the main pool reflects a welcoming sunset.

56 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

Lifestyle Real Estate

P

COURTESY OF JADE MILLS

erched on a bluff overlooking the white sands of El Sol Beach, this private getaway truly is one of a kind.

Set behind privacy gates on three manicured acres, the estate’s stunning two-story white stucco villa has four lavish bedrooms, with 5 1/2 bathrooms. On the ground floor of the 7,450-square-foot home, a cavernous great room incorporates a large living room, den, dining area, and gourmet kitchen with a built-in barbeque. Full floor-to-ceiling sliding glass displays spellbinding views of the seaside and the deep blue Pacific Ocean beyond.

Built in 1944, the villa and surrounding area have seen recent extensive restorations and upgrades. This magnificent private estate is the epitome of chic style, serenity, and convenient living. Its ideal location, uncompromising views, and design flow make it ideal for both family living and entertaining.

Upstairs, there’s a luxurious master suite with its own fireplace, sitting area, dual baths, and walk-in closets. This floor also has two more en-suite bedrooms, a media room, and a fully equipped gym.

A separate private entrance on this level leads to a fourth bedroom, complete with a kitchen and bath.

Outside, the villa has a wrap-around terrace leading to a shimmering private pool. Surrounded by lavish nature, the pool deck, spa, and a cabana with a fireplace afford owners and guests breathtaking views of the sea, the Santa Monica Mountains, and city lights far off in the distance. Private parking, a tennis court, and seaside access to the beach below complete this special property.

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.

33218 PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY MALIBU, CALIFORNIA $95.5 MILLION • 4 BEDROOMS • 7,450 SQUARE FEET • 3.182 ACRES KEY FEATURES • UNIQUE-EXCLUSIVE LOCATION • SPELLBINDING VIEWS • PRIVATE ACCESS • SEASIDE AGENT JADE MILLS ESTATES STEPHANIE ZEBIK, MANAGING DIRECTOR 310-285-7508

Set on a high bluff overlooking El Sol Beach, this chic, elegant villa affords its owners and their guests remarkable views of this famous Malibu enclave. El Sol Beach is nicknamed “Disney Overlook” because Michael Eisner of Disney fame has a house nearby.

The spa area, pool deck, and outdoor fireplace area are perfect for entertaining year-round. Again, the designers took great care to optimize the stunning views and lavish nature surrounding the home.

Inside, the spacious villa has been transformed into a wide-open contemporary affair with casual living as a focus. The open plan uses the uncompromising view of the Pacific as a central focus. The end result is at once captivating and aweinspiring.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 57

Travel Norway

Hurtigruten, a daily passenger and freight shipping service, travels along Norway's western and northern coasts, between Bergen and Kirkenes.

Sailing North

Discovering Norway’s fjords, waterfalls, and Viking history

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FROM TOP L: ANIBAL TREJO/SHUTTERSTOCK, SHUTTERSTOCK, R7 PHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK, BABUMON/SHUTTERSTOCK

58 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

RW AY

W

hile it’s literally an everyday occurrence, the departure felt momentous, like a shipload of explorers launching north, searching for unknown worlds—with terra incognita, guaranteed.

I was on the Hurtigruten, Norway’s national steamship line, which transports passengers up and down the country’s famously serrated coastline. Every day, one ship leaves Bergen going north, while another departs from Kirkenes, in the far north, headed south.

Hurtigruten launched its first voyage in 1893.

Norway is exceptionally mountainous, sliced through by fjords and girded by seas of the North Atlantic and the Arctic oceans, making communications and transportation a major challenge. Until the 1940s, communities north

of Trondheim—a fairly southern city—were unconnected by road, and air service only Arctic Circle became common in the 1960s. For decades, these blue, red, and white ships were absolutely essential to the survival of isolated villages and towns, ferrying people between ports and, importantly, carrying the mail. Once these ships took on this task, they reduced delivery times by weeks.

BERGEN Onboard the steamships was a mix of locals and tourists uncommon on most cruise ships.

The fleet still carried the mail, and people boarded and disembarked throughout the voyage, hopping between ports. Chatting with these Norwegians added a nice cultural element, as well as learning about their lives Hurtigruten celebrates in villages and towns along the way. The ships crossing the Arctic were comfortable but unfussy, with typically Circle at 66°33'N with Scandinavian utilitarian cabins, stylish comwhistle signals and mon areas, hot tubs on the upper decks, and on-deck “baptisms” hearty, satisfying meals. with ice cubes.

NO

By Tim Johnson

KIRKENES

Travel Norway

Half the fun was the sailing itself. Sitting in the streamlined lounge, which crowned the fore of each vessel, there was a distinct pleasure in grabbing a coffee and a good book and sinking into a sofa, while a never-ending display of the country’s best scenery rolled past. Just outside the floor-to-ceiling windows were glimpses of life at a slower pace—a pretty little house sitting all by itself, or the docks of a bustling fishing village. Then there was the endless wilderness, the white snow caps on the mountains growing bigger as the ship crashed through increasingly frigid waters.

Crossing the Arctic Circle, an invisible line around 66 degrees north, passengers gathered on the open decks, snapping photos of a small monument onshore and toasting our entrance into the land of the midnight sun with flutes of champagne.

The captain made an appearance, giving the willing a traditional “baptism,” scooping up ice cubes and ladling them down the backs of passengers—who lined up for the chilly honor.

At Trollfjord, the ship made an impressive maneuver, squeezing through the 300-foot mouth of the inlet. Everyone was up on deck again, marveling at waterfalls tumbling down its sheer cliffs that rose up 3,000 feet as the captain executed a difficult U-turn to extricate us from the narrow waterway.

And there were the eagles. Boarding a smaller boat at Trollfjord, we cruised away from the ship. Arriving in a calm, sheltered cove, the crew opened up buckets of fish. As if from nowhere, they came: big, majestic sea eagles. The birds swooped down, snatching the fish right from the hands of the staff.

The next day, we toured the Lofoten Islands,

with their picturesque, colorful villages.

There’s a long history of cod fishing here, and in some places, you still see the fish drying, baking on tall racks under the sun. These islands were also home to Vikings, whose settlement here dates back 1,000 years.

Finally we reached Kirkenes, our final portof-call, a small town of about 3,500 people that sits right on the Russian border. It was a hardy place cradled by a stark landscape. Crab awaited, the perfect finish to a weeklong voyage.

“Get ready for the best meal of your life,” the guide said with a smile.

And he wasn’t kidding.

Donning survival suits, we crashed out onto the ocean on a zodiac. Pausing to pull a trap, he said that the millions of king crabs that now crawled below Norwegian waters were actually descendants of a 1960s experimental fishery in Russia. Invasive and fast to multiply, they moved about 60 miles west into these waters. Fishermen were initially frustrated, as the crustaceans damaged their equipment. But now these huge crabs have become a boon, reviving the economy in many of the villages.

That day, we saw a dozen or so specimens.

The guide stacked them in the little boat and took us to a small seaside cabin, where he boiled them up over a fire. The meat was juicy and sweet, and served simply, accompanied only by crusty bread, butter, and mayonnaise.

It was a meal worthy of any explorer—or maybe just a casual cruiser who had conquered the length of the Norwegian coast.

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

The Lofoten archipelago is known for its dramatic peaks.

Tromso, Norway, offers spectacular sunsets in the winter.

63,000 MILES

of land make for one of the longest coastlines in the world.

If You Go The Voyage: It takes about a week from start to finish. Pronounced “hurt-a-grooten,” Hurtigruten— which means “express route” in Norwegian—is a bit of a misnomer, as the ships call at 34 separate ports along the scenic Norwegian coast.

When to Go: Trips depart yearround. The summer months in the Land of the Midnight Sun see 24 hours of daylight per day, while going in the winter maximizes the chance of seeing the Northern Lights.

In addition, 2022 bookings receive a $100 credit on board.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 59

Rather than waiting to move to finally build your dream house, consider upgrading and improving your current home

HOME

DREAM HOUSE

By Bill Lindsey

60 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

Lifestyle Home

Give your home a spa-quality master bathroom to make every day a vacation.

LEFT PAGE: RALPH (RAVI) KAYDEN/UNSPLASH; THIS PAGE: ROBERTO NICKSON/UNSPLASH

S

E V E R A L I S S U E S A G O , in an arti-

cle titled “Posh Backyards,” we covered the topic of unique upgrades that you can make to your home’s outdoor area to create your own version of a theme park, complete with lap pools, putting greens, observatories, outdoor kitchens, and saunas. The response was good, so now we’re shifting our gaze inward, to make the home itself your very own retreat—essentially a suburban Shangri La. When visiting friends or staying at a resort, it’s common to see things you wish you had at home, such as a huge walk-in shower in your hotel room or a neighbor’s lavishly decorated entertainment room, equipped with a pool table and arcade games.

The common reaction is to say, “We’ll add that to the new house,” but that could be months or years from now. We have a better idea: Do at least some of the upgrades with your current home.

The first step is to make a list of the indoor upgrades you would most like to have. Next, assess your home to determine which of the listed upgrades are viable. If you want to add an entertainment room, is there an existing room that can be converted, or is there room on the property to add one? Assuming you don’t live in a planned community where home expansions of any type might not be allowed, is your local building department likely to issue the required permits for an added room?

When you’ve determined which of the projects on your dream list can be completed, it’s time to pick one and get started. When making any major indoor home improvements, it’s always best to work with an experienced and properly licensed contractor to ensure proper and safe workmanship.

Spa-Quality Bathroom: Lather Up! One of the most popular home improvements that provides daily benefits and enjoyment is a spa-quality master bathroom. The goal is to create a large and airy indoor oasis with his and hers sinks and cabinets, as well as a cavernous walk-in shower with horizontal and overhead “rain forest” shower jets.

A nice hot soak is always good, so save room for a stand-alone jetted tub. Bidets are another upgrade worthy of consideration, and a heated floor will be appreciated on chilly days. Also consider adding a panoramic window to let the outdoors in. Obviously, if your next-door neighbor’s house has a window facing your bathroom 10 feet away, you won’t want to go this route. For ground-floor bathrooms, consider adding an adjacent conservatory filled with lush foliage.

The goal is an authentic movie experience, in an environment illuminated by the images on the screen.

Movie Theater: Hollywood Premiers Every Night As television and sound system technology continues to improve, creating a home theater is actually I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 61

Lifestyle Home

LIFESTYLE

LIVE IT UP

Make Your Home a Vacation Destination

1 Many firms will gladly create a customized bowling alley/man cave for your home. a relatively easy project, all things considered. The components include the screen, sound system, and seating. The bigger the screen, the better, such as the C Seed Micro-LED with an astounding 165-inch screen, but keep in mind that the seating needs to be set back from the screen to ensure optimal viewing.

In addition to ensuring ideal view and sound experiences, the seating needs to be comfortable for long movies, with accommodations for snacks and drinks.

The room’s sound insulation is critical; the goal is an authentic movie experience, stepping into an environment illuminated by the images on the screen, with surround sound speakers booming out crisp audio that comes from every direction. Thick carpeting and wall coverings can be used to tailor the sound.

Indoor Pool: Take a Dip Before Dinner

62 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

Start by making a list of the things you’d like to do to upgrade your current home, not holding back.

Want an indoor bowling alley, or spa bathroom? Write it down.

Bowling Alley: Strike!

Think about how much fun it is to visit a bowling alley, then think how much fun it would be to have your own lane(s).

This definitely isn’t a DIY project, so plan to bring in the pros. Brunswick, possibly the world’s leading authority on bowling, has a division focused entirely on residential installations of one or more lanes, complete with scoring systems, pinsetters, and all other required equipment. It’s your alley, so it will be customized to your taste. Add arcade games and room for motorcycle storage to maximize the entertainment and “wow” factor.

2 Call the Pros Major home upgrades are not DIY projects, so build a team of professionals to handle electrical, plumbing, permits, and more to ensure they're done right.

3 Do It Right

A home theater means never having to ask strangers, to “hush!”

These are dream upgrades, so don’t try to cut costs or compromise. Get the best and do it right. There’s nothing worse than realizing you didn’t quite achieve your dream.

THIS PAGE FROM TOP: COURTESY OF BRUNSWICK BOWLING, MODERN HOME SYSTEMS

The nicer the resort or the posher the home, the higher the chances are that it will have an indoor pool. Year-round use regardless of outside conditions is a great inducement; not unlike boats, most outdoor pools are rarely used as often as initially planned. An indoor pool also removes concerns about UV exposure, snow, rain, or even time of day.

Privacy is another factor. In addition to keeping the kids occupied, an indoor pool can be a health center. Swimming is an excellent way to get exercise without the physical stress associated with

running or using weights. To minimize the possible effects of exposure to pool chemicals, proper ventilation must be addressed in the design, along with features to ensure the safety of children in the home. Add a sauna to complete the spa experience.

What’s on Your List?

Luxury Living Work Life

OFFICE UPGRADES: GET COMFY TO BOOST PRODUCTIVITY The best way to ensure maximum productivity is a comfortable, inspiring workplace, but to boost creativity, we suggest taking an occasional fun break

By Bill Lindsey

Work It Out

Take a Seat

TECHNOGYM KINESIS PERSONAL

EAMES TIME-LIFE EXECUTIVE CHAIR

$16,650

$4,225

COURTESY OF MEADE, ZINC DÉCOR, GOSPORTS, TECHNOGYM, EAMES

Sitting all day can lead to bad posture, weight gain, and a number of other health issues. If you can’t take a break to go to the gym, bring the gym to your office. This system utilizes an app to guide you through multiple routines that are designed to improve and maintain overall fitness.

Originally designed by Charles Eames as a favor for the CEO of Time-Life, this aluminum-framed, leatherswathed chair has since become the quintessential office chair because of its comfort and looks. The frame can be also ordered in black, white, and graphite satin, with a variety of upholstery colors to match any office.

Super Vision

The Ideal Office Mate TYRANNOSAURUS SCULPTURE $547.80

Anyone can have a dog in the office, but instead of a terrier, go for a T-Rex. Full-size replicas are available, but unless your office is the size of an airplane hangar, this smaller version is a better choice, as it leaves room for you in the office too.

MEADE LX600 ACF TELESCOPE – 16” F/8 $19,499.99

An office telescope is great for lunchtime birdwatching, but instead of a brass replica, consider this impressive model. Use the external 8x viewfinder to find the bird, then see it up close via the main lens. Add a diagonal eyepiece for “right side up” viewing.

Putt the Day Away

GOSPORTS PUTTING GREEN $299.99

If your office isn’t large enough for a virtual driving range, focus on putting. Designed to be as close to the real thing as possible, with flags, authentic greens speeds, and regulation-sized holes. You can use all six holes or plug as many as you want.

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 63

Epoch Booklist

RECOMMENDED READING FICTION

‘Seven Days in Utopia’

By David L. Cook

Regaining Confidence For anyone who has lost his or her edge or confidence, this is the book for you.

Readers are taken on a psychological journey into the golfer’s mind.

Cook brings a wealth of sports psychology knowledge and wisdom in this thoughtful and fun book.

ZONDERVAN, 2011, 176 PAGES

‘A Postcard From the Volcano’

By Lucy Beckett

A Novel of PreWar Germany Through the eyes of several young people, we witness the chaos following World War I and the rise of fascism.

Beautifully written and meticulously researched, the novel shows us the

This week’s selection includes a fictional hero’s journey to the miraculous, and a biography of the brave father of the American Navy.

devastating effects of ideology when faith and real patriotism decline. At the center of the story is Prussian aristocrat Max von Hofmannswaldau, whose complicated background eventually leaves him stripped of his possessions and his nationality. A story that should remind us of what’s at stake when liberty begins to die.

IGNATIUS PRESS, 2009, 521 PAGES

‘Peace Like a River’

By Leif Enger

Hero’s Journey to the Miraculous Seen through the eyes of 11-year-old Reuben Land, this novel takes the reader on the hero’s journey. Reuben’s elder brother has killed two marauders in defense of their home, but flees before the jury is ready to submit its verdict.

Reuben and his father, Jeremiah, search for Davy, with a federal agent hot on their heels.

Readers encounter a delightful assortment of colorful characters and revel in the miraculous. This book is a heartwarming read that’s nearly impossible to put down.

ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS, 2002, 320 PAGES

64 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

Are there books you’d recommend?

We’d love to hear from you. Let us know at features@epochtimes.com

HISTORY

‘John Paul Jones’

By Evan Thomas

The Father of the American Navy When we think of the American Revolution, the land forces are what typically come to mind. When it comes to the sea, we think of the French forces. But John Paul Jones, the father of the American Navy, gets his due in this biography of a rollicking life. Considered a pirate by the British, he was a naval hero to the Americans and one of the bravest souls to venture onto the seas during the Revolution. A life worth reading about.

SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2004, 416 PAGES

‘The Constitutional Convention’

By James Madison

How the Constitution Was Created For anyone who wants to know how the Constitution was created, there is no better

source than the notes written by the father of the Constitution himself, James Madison.

Madison took detailed notes of the many debates over the threemonth period in 1787 that ultimately culminated in the greatest document America ever produced.

MODERN LIBRARY, 2005, 256 PAGES

CLASSICS

‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’

By Lewis Carroll

FOR KIDS

‘Love You Forever’

By Robert Munsch

Enduring Love of Parent and Child Still a bestseller after all these years, this sweet tale of a mother’s love for her son and his love for her as she grows old lets the little ones know they are loved as well.

It may bring tears to the parents reading this story.

FIREFLY BOOKS, 1995, 32 PAGES

Not Just for Children Never out of print, this story of Alice’s descent down a rabbit hole and her meetings with such characters as the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter is often regarded as a children’s story. Not so. Even Queen Victoria read Alice when the book first appeared.

Carroll, a mathematician, plays with logic, language, and absurdity. Kids may not understand these allusions, but grownups should find themselves entertained by this timeless tale.

BANTAM CLASSICS (REPRINT), 2015, 160 PAGES

‘Heidi’

By Johanna Spyri

Classic Goodness This beloved literary classic, published in 1880, is an essential component to any child’s library. The endearing tale of young orphan Heidi, and the beauty she brings to the lives of all who know her, is one that stays with you.

PUFFIN CLASSICS (REPRINT), 2009, 294 PAGES

Ian Kane is a U.S. Army veteran, filmmaker, and author.

He enjoys the great outdoors and volunteering.

MOVIE REVIEWS

Epoch Watchlist

This week, we look at a fun romp about an adventure writer and her books’ cover boy, as well as a romance about a time traveler seeking love.

NEW RELEASE

INDIE PICK

‘About Time’ (2013)

‘The Lost City’ (2022) Sandra Bullock stars as hermetic author Loretta Sage, who has written a slew of popular adventure novels. When she gets kidnapped by a kooky billionaire who wants her to locate an ancient treasure from one of her books, Alan (Channing Tatum), the model who’s featured on her book covers, embarks on a quest to save her.

Although this movie is somewhat derivative, emulating many adventure films from the ’80s, it manages to emerge as a pretty darn fun adventure romp—because of the chemistry of the lead characters and the playfully humorous script.

ACTION | ADVENTURE | COMEDY

Release Date: March 25, 2022 Directors: Aaron Nee, Adam Nee Starring: Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, Channing Tatum Running Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 Where to Watch: Theaters

HIGHLY ENTERTAINING CLASSIC also an intriguing combination of scintillating drama, sly humor, and subtle romance.

COMEDY | DRAMA | ROMANCE

‘The Quiet Man’ (1952)

Sean Thornton (John Wayne) travels to Ireland to reclaim his familial homestead.

He soon falls for beautiful damsel

Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara), whose brother doesn’t approve of their union.

This classic film has it all—brilliant acting, a rousing score, and beautiful locales. It’s

Release Date: Sept. 14, 1952 Director: John Ford Starring: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald Running Time: 2 hours, 9 minutes Not Rated Where to Watch: Hulu, Epix, DirecTV

Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) is a young man who can time travel and make different decisions in his past to change his present. Topping his list of things to change is finding the right woman.

But when he meets his perfect match in Mary (Rachel McAdams), a time-travel glitch throws the budding romance into jeopardy.

Excusing this film’s logical inconsistencies, this adorable romantic comedy about a shy young man

looking for true love is a simple yet effective movie that tugs at your heartstrings but never becomes overly sappy.

COMEDY | DR AMA | FANTASY

Release Date: Nov. 8, 2013 Director: Richard Curtis Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy Running Time: 2 hours, 3 minutes MPAA Rating: R Where to Watch: Vudu, Redbox, DirecTV

MARTIAL ARTS MASTERWORK

‘Enter the Dragon’ (1973) Bruce Lee stars as Lee, a martial artist on the trail of an infamous drug lord who’s responsible for his sister’s death.

He arrives at the villain’s secluded island for a deadly martial arts competition with the hope of finally nailing the narcotics boss.

One of the most famous martial arts films, it was Lee’s final completed film appearance. Its wafer-thin plot is offset by its phenomenal fight scenes, as Lee

was at the height of his martial arts prowess. A true classic of the genre.

ACTION | CRIME | DR AMA

Release Date: Aug. 19, 1973 Director: Robert Clouse Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly Running Time: 1 hour, 42 minutes MPAA Rating: R Where to Watch: Vudu, Redbox, DirecTV

I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022 65

Food Drinks

ANATOMY OF A CLASSIC COCKTAIL: THE SAZERAC The official drink of New Orleans balances a potent mix of whiskey, sugar, bitters, and absinthe.

Its story—one of the oldest in the American cocktail canon—is full of boozy twists and turns

By Kevin Revolinski

T

66 I N S I G H T March 25–31, 2022

Peychaud’s bitters, invented

by Antoine Peychaud in the 1830s, is a crucial component.

Sazerac Rye whiskey came to replace cognac as the spirit of choice.

If you can’t make a trip to New Orleans, stir up a sip of the Big Easy in the comfort of your home.

The Sazerac House features a bar and offers free museum tours and tastings.

THE SAZERAC Serves 1 • 1 1/2 ounces Sazerac rye whiskey or cognac • 1/4 ounce absinthe or herbsaint • 1 sugar cube • 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters Swirl absinthe around in a chilled old-fashioned glass to coat it; dump out any excess.

Mix other ingredients in a shaker or other glass over ice and stir for 20 seconds; strain into prepared glass.

Serve straight up or over ice, with lemon peel garnish.

local tastes were shifting: Rye whiskey became the substitute.

In 1873, bartender Leon Lamothe put his mark on the drink, adding a dash of the anise-flavored liquor absinthe. But absinthe was banned in 1912 because of the alleged hallucinogenic qualities of the ingredient wormwood. Soon after Prohibition, J. Marion Legendre and Reginald Parker, a couple of locals who had learned how to make absinthe in France during World War I, produced Herbsaint, an anise-flavored liquor without

wormwood that packed a 120-proof punch (later reduced to 100).

The original coffee house is gone now, but The Sazerac House features a bar and offers free tours and tastings at its museum. And the Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel is so named for a reason: It serves the iconic concoction with class.

But if you want a sip of the Big Easy in the comfort of your home, here’s how it’s made.

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

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: KEITH HOMAN/SHUTTERSTOCK; 5PH/ SHUTTERSTOCK; SAZERAC HOUSE; SAZERAC COMPANY

he history of this signature cocktail of New Orleans is a bit like building a drink: Bits were added until it arrived at the final recipe. When you’re mixing one, you realize that at its heart, it’s an old fashioned—whiskey, sugar, bitters.

But the devil’s in the details, and the details make the Sazerac 100 percent New Orleans.

In 1838, a local druggist, Antoine Peychaud, created his own bitters, a blend of root extracts and spices that worked as a digestive. He added this not to whiskey, but to brandy. The Sazerac is often called America’s first “cocktail,” because Peychaud allegedly served his new drink to fellow Masons in a coquetier—an egg cup—and the word got twisted around. But the redoubtable Oxford English Dictionary credits an older London use initially meaning a horse with an upturned tail, but eventually evolving to indicate a horse of a mixed breed. Did it become a mixed drink from there? Maybe.

But in the word’s first U.S. appearance in print in 1803, in The Farmer’s Cabinet, a New Hampshire weekly, it is indeed a drink.

Three years later in Hudson, New York, in the newspaper Balance, the “cock tail” is described as a “stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.”

In New Orleans, that spirit was cognac—specifically, Sazerac de Forge et Fils Cognac, a local favorite first imported from France to the Big Easy in 1784 that was being pushed by the Sazerac Coffee House in the 1850s. In the 1870s, however, an insect infestation in French vineyards knocked back cognac production, and

How to Be a Great Neighbor Making time to know your neighbors just might lead to some pleasant surprises

It’s easy to tune out those living around us, with our focus solely on our jobs and family, but sometimes that means we're missing out on meeting really interesting people and making great friends who live next door or just down the block.

By Bill Lindsey

4 Maintain Your Property

1 Be Friendly Without being a stalker, make an effort to meet your neighbors. Walking your dog is often a great way to meet those who live nearby.

Assuming your dog—and theirs—are well-behaved, you’ve got a natural icebreaker to start a conversation. If you see them in the yard, a friendly wave and “Hi” may lead to more regular chats. You may even discover that you have a lot in common and become friends.

The condition and appearance of your home affect the overall community and especially those homes near yours. Keeping your lawn mowed, trees trimmed, and home in good shape certainly benefits your quality of life and real estate value, but it also shows respect for your neighbors. Provide a good example; while home maintenance tasks become routine after a while, be aware when those new to homeownership may need a hand.

ILBUSCA/GETTYIMAGES

2 Be Helpful If you see a neighbor struggling with a trash can or a large box dropped off by UPS, offer to help. Most times they’ll say they’re OK, but it shows a friendliness on your part. The same goes if you see them having problems with a lawnmower or cleaning rain gutters; taking care to not startle them, ask if you can help. The best neighbors are those ready to lend a helping hand.

5 Be Aware 3 Be Courteous Being a good neighbor is easy when you treat your neighbors as you would want to be treated. If you receive their mail by mistake, deliver it to them. If you see them, you can explain, but if not, simply leave it in their mailbox. Clean up after your pets and kids, and take care to not let parties run too late or to get too loud (unless you invite the entire neighborhood).

By making a point of meeting your neighbors and knowing their kids, pets, and even their vehicles, it becomes easy to notice when something is amiss. Without being that guy who watches his neighbors through binoculars and writes down license plate numbers, be aware of cars parked at vacant homes or strangers repeatedly driving through the neighborhood. If you see a neighbor, their child, or their pet in distress, offer assistance—just as you hope they would do for you.

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