that appointed president Biden made that prior posted speech. Hell, I’d bet you money, marbles or chalk he could not even correctly (or coherently) read such a transcript – much less comprehend what we are now told he composed and spoke. (See the video clip of him walking right past his security detail and off the sidewalk onto the lawn despite verbal clues and hand signals by the secret service who were attempting to keep him on the right path to the White House doorway? Looked like some kind of a zombie moving aimlessly forward unaware of the frustrated herders who were unable to guide this shell of a man to his destination. <below>)
I still honestly believe this is a horrific example of ELDER ABUSE BY ANTI-AMERICAN MANIPULATORS ON THE FAR LEFT who don’t give a flying rat’s ass about America (much less their conveniently exploited Biden puppet) or the principles for which “SHE”, OUR BELOVED COUNTRY, has always proudly stood and struggled for centuries to achieve. We have been told many things since the 2020 cyber-stolen election regarding how hard this appointed fraud of an administration is working for the American people while supposedly “Building Back Better”. (Ever notice how so many of these Biden plans are merely reconfigured (and perverted) extensions of what OUR TRUE PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, HAD ALREADY instituted or planned to initiate? The Biden brethren are simply “copy cats” concerning anything that remotely sounds reasonable or makes common sense and are desperately hoping their nefarious deceptions are not noticed – which of course they certainly are.)
“Build Back Better?” Oh really? Take a quick look at our country’s current open southern border and the serious and highly dangerous consequences that have, and will continue to erode our sovereignty due to the foolish betrayal of ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS. That alone is an excellent example of what these disingenuous traitors believe to be “better”.
Yup, capital punishment or mandatory revocation of citizenship and expulsion from the USA are reasonable responses for these intentional traitors to our country whereas Biden should probably just finish out his life in a supervised care facility safe from those who would continue to slip their leftist hands up his ass to make his mouth move as if he were saying something important.
My best to you and yours, Lew
Sure hope I am not one of those American Citizens who leave this life while such a pathetic, demented and dishonest “commander and thief” pretends to be the legitimate leader of the FREE WORLD while his “sock puppet handlers” incrementally destroy OUR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with words and activities this puppet president could not possibly orchestrate or comprehend. Yup, they should all be criminally charged with elder abuse and dealt with quite harshly for their monumental betrayal of OUR AMERICA. later.
President Biden delivered a speech on wanting to lower prescription drug prices.
Biden was Monday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”. Here are his words:
“There aren’t a lot of things that almost every American can agree on. But I think it’s safe to say that all of us — whatever our background, our age, or where we live -– can agree that prescription drug prices are outrageously expensive in America.
Today, I’d like to talk about how we’re going to help millions of Americans save money and ease their burdens by lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
Let me start by acknowledging the groundbreaking and lifesaving work that many pharmaceutical companies are doing.
Look no further than the vaccines they are manufacturing and delivering that are helping us beat this pandemic and save lives.
But we can make a distinction between developing these breakthroughs and jacking up prices on a range of medications for a range of everyday diseases and conditions.
Right now, right here in America, we pay the highest prescription drug costs of any developed nation in the world. Let me say that again: of any developed nation in the world. About two to three times what other countries pay.
Last week, in the Oval Office, I hosted a small-business owner named Gail from Denver. She’s 60 years old. When she was 11, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. For nearly 50 years, she’s had to take insulin to stay alive.
But you know what she told me? She said she doesn’t worry about becoming blind or her blood sugar dropping dangerously low — the natural worries of anyone with Type 1 diabetes. She worries about being able to pay for her prescription drugs.
During our conversation, she pulled out a vial of insulin from her bag. In 2001, she said, that single vial cost $32 a bottle. Today, that exact same bottle, with the same exact formula — no changes — costs $280 per bottle.
Gail and her husband work hard. They spend wisely. But because of the cost of her prescription drugs, her husband may not be able to retire. They drive the same car, she said, she’s had for 17 years, unable to afford repairs or a new one. And Gail is not alone.
It’s estimated that more than 34 million Americans — 10 percent of the population of the United States — have diabetes, including more than 1.5 million of those who have Type 1 diabetes.
And the outrageous cost, affecting everyone across the board, spanning every kind of condition and disease, is similar.
I remember what it was like for my mom as she got older and moved in with us. Her prescription drugs were so expensive that it took me, my two brothers, and my sister — three siblings — chipping in to cover the thousands of dollars in monthly costs that she did — that she had to exhaust, rather than exhaust the little savings she had, for her prescription drugs.
It’s personal to so many of us and so many of you. You know, for more than 1 million Americans living with multiple sclerosis, one common drug for that disease costs $7,100 per month. The price has gone up 1,000 percent over the last 20 years without any change in the drug.
For more than 1 million people with rheumatoid arthritis, a common prescription drug used to cost about $1,350 per month; that was when it was introduced back in 2003. Today, the same drug costs $7,700 per month — over five times more expensive without any change.
For years, the price of many prescription drugs has dramatically outpaced inflation. These prices have put the squeeze on too many families and stripped them of their dignity. They’ve been forced — we force people into terrible choices, between maintaining their health, paying the rent or the mortgage, putting food on the table. I mean, literally. And that’s the case for a lot of working families and seniors, even if you can get the care you need.
But, today, working families and too many seniors are struggling to make it work.
Today, one in four Americans who take prescription drugs struggle to afford them. Nearly 30 percent have skipped doses, cut pills in half, or — because they can’t afford the cost.
We have to change this, and we can.
My administration has already taken significant steps to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Last month, I signed an executive order that has the effect of improving competition in the economy, which will result in lower prescription drug fri- — drug costs.
Right now, when a drug company seeks permission from the FDA — the Food and Drug Administration — for a certain drug to get a patent, it’s allowed — the patent — it’s allowed to exclusively sell that drug without competition for up to 12 years. When that time period expires, other companies can come along, make the same exact drug, and sell it cheaper. It’s called a “generic drug.”
But unfortunately, it often takes a long time — years and years — for this to happen. That’s why I’ve instructed the federal Drug Administration to get these genetic [generic] drugs to consumers faster. This is going to increase competition, lower drug prices for everyone.
Research shows that prices could be cut by 25 to 33 percent and save $54 billion for consumers over the next 10 years. Makes a gigantic difference for an average family.
Secondly, I’ve ordered the FDA to work with states and Tribes to import prescription drugs safely from Canada. These are drugs that the FDA has determined are safe. And they’re going to make sure the drugs get to the states and Tribes safely.
Colorado estimates that their version of the Drug Importation Program is going to save $35 million to $60 million a year for people in Colorado, cutting the prices down by more than 60 percent for the cost of the same drug.
These things — and, by the way, you know, the company that’s making these drugs and causing — and charging exorbitant prices are selling the same drug in other countries at considerably lower prices. It’s not like there’s another company always making this drug — same outfit.
These thing by themselves will be a great help. But to really solve the problem, we need Congress to act. That’s what my Build Back Better plan will do.
You know, there’s long been talk — I mean, a long time, since the days when I was back in the Senate — about giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices.
Now, Medicare takes care of millions of people. Medicare — my plan — going to — is going to allow that.
Every other type of healthcare service — from the cost of a doctor’s visit, how much a doctor can charge for a visit, hospital visits, crutches, wheelchairs — Medicare is allowed to negotiate and say, “We’ll pay no more, from the Medicare, than the following amount for those things.”
As I’ve said before, the only thing Medicare is not allowed to negotiate are prices for prescription drugs. My plan gets rid of that prohibition.
The proposal I made while I was running for President is that Medicare should negotiate drug prices across the board.
Congress is currently debating a more narrow vision letting Medicare negotiate some of the most expensive drugs, particularly from those companies that don’t face competition for that drug. We’re going to provide that competition through — we’re going to provide that competition through Medicare. Medicare is going to negotiate a fair price.
Right now, drug companies will set a price at whatever the market will bear.
Some of you may remember when I had the Moonshot going as — when I was Vice President. I met with 12 drug companies. And I agreed I would not name them at the time; it was just a private discussion. I said, “If any one of you came up with a drug that cured a particular type of cancer, what do you think you should be able to charge for it?” They said, “Whatever the market would bear. Whatever it will bear.”
But that often means a significant number of people can’t afford it under any circumstance and they’ll die without it. That’s unacceptable.
What we’re proposing is that we’ll negotiate a base — negotiate with the company based on a fair price, one that reflects the costs of the research and development and the need for providing for a significant prof- — a profit, but that’s still affordable for consumers.
And, by the way, if there was a significant amount that’s invested in it and a fair price is very expensive, we’re going to have to figure out society can provide for that drug that will save lives if people who can’t afford it. But that’s what we are trying to get done. And it has to get done.
But not only that my plan caps the amount that seniors have to spend on prescription drugs each year at no more than about $3,000 a year, our plan says that drug companies can only raise prices based on the rate of inflation after it’s determined how much they’ve invested and what a healthy profit constitutes.
Studies have shown that if we do this, we can save seniors thousands of dollars a year.
For example, an expensive drug for a cancer called “multiple myeloma” can cost $20,000 a month. Twenty thousand dollars a month. People who need that drug pay an average of $1,300 a month out of pocket even with Medicare.
What I’m proposing would reduce the total cost by thousands of dollars and seniors would not pay more than $250 a month on average. That’d be a game changer.
And by the way, it isn’t just seniors who will benefit. This would lower prescription drug prices for all Americans. And here’s how: If Medicare prices are available to private insurance companies, then it would reduce the cost of employer-based health insurance coverage.
What that means is: Once Medicare negotiates a lower drug price for its beneficiaries, an employer-based plan shouldn’t have to keep paying whatever the drug company demands. They should get access to the same drug for the same price as Medicare.
So, if you’re not on Medicare — you get your prescription drugs through your employer-based plan — your plan should pay the same price for that drug as someone on Medicare.
It means drug companies would have to sell their drugs to all distributors at the Medicare price or face up to a 95 percent excise tax. The savings for employers and employees would be billions of dollars a year.
We don’t have to stop there. My plan expands Medicare by adding dental, vision, and hearing, which would make a world of difference for millions of people.
And we can take some of that savings created when Medicare is no longer forced to overpay prescription drugs and use it to pay for these additional benefits and reduce premiums, improve access for people with coverage on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
You know, at the same time, we can invest in medical breakthroughs that will also reduce the costs and save lives.
Right now, when Americans overpay for prescription drugs, too many pharmaceutical companies don’t use the profit nearly enough to innovate or research.
Too many companies use it on buying back their stock, inflate their worth, drive up CEO’s salaries and compensation, and find ways to box out the competition.
In fact, according to one study, from 2016 to 2020, pharmaceutical companies spent $577 billion in stock buybacks and dividends — $56 billion more than what they spent on all research and development over that same period of time.
Look, folks, they should be able to make a significant prog- — prof- — profit, but why should we be paying two or three times what every other country in the world is paying for a similar drug? There’s so much we can do.
For example, at the Defense Department — for those of you who cover the Defense area — there’s something called the DARPA — the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency — set up exclusively within the Defense Department to seek out the cutting-edge research protects that enhance our national security. An outfit that came up with the Internet, GPS, and a lot of stealth technology — a lot of things.
I’m proposing we do a similar thing. I propose we spend $6.5 billion for a similar agency within the National Institute of Health — the NIH –- called “Advanced Research Project Agency” — ARPA-H — like DARPA — to help speed cutting-edge research on how to detect, treat, and cure diseases like Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and cancer.
It’s personal to so many people out there, and we can do this. I’m not criticizing companies that aren’t prepared to spend billions of dollars on certain projects to research. I get it. But if they’re not, we should, to make sure the American — Americans are covered.
And here’s one other big thing that will help millions of Americans afford their prescription drugs: getting them affordable health insurance.
If anyone is worried about getting health insurance during the pandemic, there’s help today. For those who get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act, we’re covering more people, with better benefits, and with the premiums 40 percent lower.
That means the average premium has been cut by — from $104 a month to $62 a month. Sixty-two dollars a month for quality health insurance that covers doctors visits, hospital care, and prescription drugs.
In fact, one third of the consumers are buying plans through the Affordable Care Act for less than $10 a month.
Earlier this week, I announced that more than 2.5 million Americans have signed up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act since I called for the Special Enrollment Period during this pandemic.
Folks, if you don’t have insurance, you can still sign up under the Affordable Care Act through Sunday, August the 15th. Just go to Healthcare.gov today, and get covered.
To all those folks expressing concern about rising costs for families, I urge you to support these basic reforms that will allow drug companies to still make billions of dollars, as they have a right to do, but will address one of the largest out-of-pocket expenses that families face: prescription drugs.
We can do this.
Let me close with this: I’ve long said healthcare should be a right, not a privilege in this country. With my Build Back Better Plan, we have an opportunity to come together and get us even closer to that reality.
And the American people support it by overwhelming bipartisan margins. This isn’t a partisan issue. Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer — they don’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican. This is about whether or not you and your loved ones can afford prescription drugs you need.
I look forward to Congress getting this done. And there’s another area — this is another area where you can come together and make a difference in people’s lives.
Thank you. May God bless you. May God protect our troops. Thank you.”
The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks before getting vaccinated at the mass vaccination site at Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem, NYC, on March 17, 2021. (Seth Wenig/Pool/Getty Images) NY Politics
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, announced Tuesday he will resign effective in 14 days after allegations of sexual harassment that were detailed in a state attorney general’s report last week.
Cuomo’s resignation came as the New York Assembly started deliberations Monday on an impeachment inquiry into his conduct and as top Democrat officials, including President Joe Biden, called on him to resign.
“The best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to government,” Cuomo said in a televised speech.
But Cuomo said that he did not intentionally show disrespect toward any female staffers or women, asserting that the claims against him were “politically motivated.” An impeachment, however, would thrust New York into a state of turmoil for months, the three-term governor said, explaining that’s why he’s resigning.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a 62-year-old Democrat and former member of Congress, will become the state’s 57th governor and the first woman to head New York state.
“It is a matter of life and death. Government operations and wasting energy on distraction is the last thing government should be,” Cuomo also remarked. “I cannot be the cause. New York tough means New York loving. And I love New York and I love you. Everything I have ever done has been motivated by that love and I would never want to be unhelpful in any way.”
And speaking to his three daughters, Cuomo told them, “I want them to know from the bottom of my heart that I never did and I never would intentionally disrespect a woman, treat any woman differently than I would want them treated and that is the God’s honest truth.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James presents the findings of an independent investigation into accusations by multiple women that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed them in New York City on Aug. 3, 2021. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
It came about a week after New York Attorney General Letitia James, also a Democrat, wrote in a lengthy report that he engaged in sexual harassment and his chamber mishandled allegations against him. She did not charge the governor with a crime, although several sheriff’s offices and prosecutors have announced they’re investigating.
“Specifically, we find that the Governor sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees by, among other things, engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women,” her report said, adding that Cuomo’s office was filled with “fear and intimidation.”
James’s office received criticism for how she handled the case, with even some Republicans saying she failed to issue criminal referrals against the governor.
“Letitia James dropped the ball by not making immediate criminal referrals when her investigation described numerous criminal acts against women,” said New York attorney general candidate Michael Henry, a Republican, in a statement.
Cuomo, separately, is also accused of mishandling the state’s response to the pandemic, namely that his administration concealed thousands of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients.
That comes in stark contrast to how he was praised during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, with some pundits lauding his daily press conferences as being a counter to former President Donald Trump’s daily pandemic updates. Cuomo’s briefings won him an international Emmy Award, and he went on to write a book on leadership during the crisis.
A U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Battallion, 39th Field Artillery Regiment (1-39) Bravo Battery Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) vehicle fires a M28A1 practice rocket during exercises near the Iraqi border in northern Kuwait on Feb. 13, 2003. (Scott Nelson/Getty Images) National Security
An electrical engineer from Los Angeles who plotted to steal missile technology and sell it to a Chinese company has been sentenced to more than five years in prison.
U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt sentenced Yi-Chi Shih, 66, of Hollywood Hills, to 63 months—or more than five years—in prison for his role in the scheme. He was also ordered to pay $362,698 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the judge fined him $300,000.
Shih was arrested in January 2019 after he was found to have been involved in an illegal scheme to obtain monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) from an unnamed American company and smuggle them to the Chinese company Chengdu GaStone Technology (CGTC), which was placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List in 2014.
He was convicted on one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Administration Regulations.
Shih was also convicted of four counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, one count of making false statements to an FBI agent, three counts of subscribing to a false tax return, and four counts of making false statements to the IRS about his foreign assets.
Court papers state that Shih defrauded a U.S. company that manufactured broadband, high-powered semiconductor chips which have several commercial and military applications.
The semiconductor chips, also known as MMICs, are used in missiles, missile guidance systems, fighter jets, electronic warfare, electronic warfare countermeasures, and radar applications. Those exported by Shih to China were intended for AVIC 607, a state-owned entity.
According to court documents, Shih was president of CGTC, which was building an MMIC manufacturing facility in the city. The company was placed on the list “due to its involvement in activities contrary to the national security and foreign policy interest of the United States—specifically, that it had been involved in the illicit procurement of commodities and items for unauthorized military end use in China.”
The case is just one of many examples of federal prosecutions focused on the theft of U.S. intellectual property for the benefit of China.
In April, former Coca-Cola employee You Xiaorong was convicted of stealing trade secrets relating to the coating of beverage containers from U.S. companies. You then planned to use the technology to manufacture the coating for the global market.
In June 2020, Chinese professor Zhang Hao was found guilty of economic espionage and stealing wireless technology from U.S. companies for the benefit of the Chinese regime. The technology in question filters out unwanted signals in wireless devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, and has both consumer and military applications.
U.S. Senate and House lawmakers in May reintroduced a bill, called the Protecting America from Spies Act, that would deny visas to aliens who have stolen U.S. intellectual property or committed espionage—particularly those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“We know that the Chinese Communist Party will spare no effort to steal from, and exploit, American companies and universities,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a May 20 statement.
“If a Chinese citizen has spied on us before, we should absolutely assume he or she will do so again. This legislation prevents repeat offenders from gaining access to our country,” he said.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) says that his proposal to block members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from acquiring land in the United States is necessary to protect U.S. national and economic security.
The legislation (pdf), named the Securing America’s Land from Foreign Interference Act, was introduced on July 9.
Roy told The Epoch Times that the measure would prevent individuals with links to the CCP from exploiting vulnerabilities to the detriment of U.S. national security and interests, through the purchase of public or private land.
“There have been a number of disturbing stories in the recent years … where we’ve seen the land being acquired in the United States of America by Chinese interests … and very obvious ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
“In general terms, the Chinese Communist Party, not only are they not our friend, they are our enemies and we ought to treat them as such. I don’t believe that we should be allowing the Chinese to be acquiring significant amounts of real estate in the United States to our detriment.”
The legislation follows concerns from lawmakers and experts last year over a proposed Chinese wind farm project in West Texas. Critics said the Chinese project could be used as a cover for espionage and to disrupt the state’s power grid.
The acquisition was reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which is chaired by the Treasury Department, and the panel found that the Blue Hills Wind development in southwest Texas’s Val Verde County doesn’t currently pose a national security threat. However, an expert familiar with the project in Texas previously told The Epoch Times that there are a number of potential concerns with regard to Chinese control over the roughly 140,000 acres of land.
The proposed wind farm site is about 30 miles from the U.S.–Mexico border and about 70 miles from Laughlin Air Force Base, the U.S. Air Force’s largest pilot training facility.
Spurred by these concerns, Texas lawmakers earlier this year approved legislation that would ban individuals or companies connected with China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia from entering into contracts related to the state’s critical infrastructure. It was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 18 and took effect immediately.
In a release accompanying his legislation, Roy said data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that foreign investors control nearly 30 million acres of U.S. farmland—roughly the size of Ohio. Texas has the second-highest amount of foreign ownership, with 3 million acres under foreign control.
Cows stand in a field on a cattle ranch near Eldorado, Texas, on April 16, 2021. (Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images)
The Republican lawmaker told The Epoch Times that any foreign acquisition of U.S. land, by the CCP in particular, should be a cause for concern, as owners will then be able to control that land and how that land is being used.
“I certainly don’t want to see significant foreign ownership of American interests even from allies, much less the Chinese Communist Party,” Roy said. “Sovereignty is a wonderful thing … and that’s part of why we need to secure our border. That’s part of why we should we need to be not just suspicious of but pretty opposed to significant, if any acquisition of our assets here in this country, by the Chinese and the Chinese Communist Party.”
Roy stressed the importance of maintaining control of the production of American resources “for our own well-being in our own communities.”
The United States must not “rely upon those who have different political regimes, different interests, ones that we cannot control through our republican form of government,” he said.
“There is one United States of America, we fought a war in order to create ourselves, we have fought such wars in order to fend off tyranny. It is my belief that we need to preserve and protect this great country, along with those who are allies who believe what we believe.
“But you know, while the Chi-comms [Chinese communists] are around, murdering the Uyghurs and going around enforcing the ridiculous policies of child extermination and limitations on how many children you can have and other horrors against humanity, forgive me for not wanting to subject Americans to their Chinese Communist Party ways in any form from national security, economic security, or otherwise.”
An archbishop on Thursday responded to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claim that she is a devout Catholic who supports abortion.
“Let me repeat: no one can claim to be a devout Catholic and condone the killing of innocent human life, let alone have the government pay for it. The right to life is a fundamental—the most fundamental—human right, and Catholics do not oppose fundamental human rights,” San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement.
Cordileone is the archbishop of Pelosi’s home diocese.
Pelosi was asked during a press conference earlier in the day why Democrats have declined to allow a vote on a bill that would block taxpayer-funded abortions.
She said access to abortion is a health issue for many American women, “especially those in lower-income situations and in different states, and it is something that has been a priority for many of us a long time.”
“As a devout Catholic and mother of five in six years, I feel that God blessed my husband and me with our beautiful family the five children in six years, almost to the day. But it’s not up to me to dictate that that’s what other people should do. And it’s an issue of fairness and justice for poor women in our country,” she also said.
Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy, or the termination of an unborn baby. Critics say the procedure is akin to murder while proponents claim the mother’s life and wellbeing takes priority over the fetus.
Over 619,000 abortions took place in 2018, according to a surveillance system run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That amounted to 11.3 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44. Abortions are available in every state due to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, though some states have imposed various restrictions on when the procedure can be done.
Cordileone condemned Pelosi’s remarks.
“To use the smokescreen of abortion as an issue of health and fairness to poor women is the epitome of hypocrisy: what about the health of the baby being killed? What about giving poor women real choice, so they are supported in choosing life? This would give them fairness and equality to women of means, who can afford to bring a child into the world,” he said.
“It is people of faith who run pro-life crisis pregnancy clinics; they are the only ones who provide poor women life-giving alternatives to having their babies killed in their wombs. I cannot be prouder of my fellow Catholics who are so prominent in providing this vital service. To them I say: you are the ones worthy to call yourselves ‘devout Catholics!’”
Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, Catholic bishops in the United States approved the drafting of a document that may rebuke her, President Joe Biden, and other prominent Catholics who support abortion despite the faith’s teachings.
Biden was denied communion in 2019 over his support of abortion.
Cordileone said earlier this year that he discussed with Pelosi her abstaining from receiving communion because of her position on abortion.
Falun Gong practitioners at candlelight vigil remembering victims of the 22 years persecution in China at the Washington Monument on July 16, 2021. The characters for “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance,” the principles taught by the spiritual practice appear at the front. (Edward Dai/The Epoch Times) Thinking About China
The abuses taking place in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Region (XUR) have been well documented. With forced labor and horrific stories of sexual abuse, the Uyghur story is an important one, and it needs to be told.
Another important story that needs to be told involves the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Twenty-two years ago today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sought to eliminate the spiritual practice of Falun Gong in China. In an attempt to eliminate the peaceful practice, the Chinese regime launched a brutal campaign of religious persecution, one that continues to this day.
For more than two decades, Falun Gong practitioners have experienced unspeakable and intolerable acts of human rights abuses, with a number of practitioners being subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, forced labor, and death threats. Thousands have died at the hands of the CCP. This short piece remembers the brave men and women who have been punished and beaten, persecuted and prosecuted. It also pays respect to those who continue to spread the gospel of peace, love, and unity.
Fallen but Not Forgotten
But first, we must ask: Why does the Chinese regime fear Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that involves slow-moving exercises and meditation and places great emphasis on the importance of human decency? In China, where tyranny and lies reign supreme, there’s little room, if any, for honesty, empathy, and tolerance. In other words, there’s no room for Falun Gong.
Since July 20, 1999, the CCP has launched countless smear campaigns against Falun Gong practitioners. In “Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China,” Ian Johnson wrote that the CCP’s claims against the group don’t carry any truth whatsoever. Contrary to the propaganda promulgated by the Chinese regime, Johnson sets the narrative straight. Falun Gong members “marry outside the group, have outside friends, hold normal jobs, do not live isolated from society, do not believe that the world’s end is imminent, and do not give significant amounts of money to the organization,” he wrote.
This, however, hasn’t stopped the CCP from spreading malicious lies about Falun Gong. As writer James Griffiths noted, since 1999, the CCP has launched a “concerted propaganda campaign” to portray the peaceful movement as an “evil cult.” Within a month of its ban, “almost 400 articles were published in state media attacking Falun Gong.” Of course, the response has gone far beyond harshly worded editorials.
Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been sent to “re-education” camps. People wonder if hell is real. It is, and it exists here, on Earth. Hell comes in the form of a Chinese “re-education” facility. As Amnesty International reports: “So-called ‘re-education camps’ are places of brainwashing, torture, and punishment that hark back to the darkest hours of the Mao-era, when anyone suspected of not being loyal enough to the state or the Chinese Communist Party could end up in China’s notorious labor camps.”
In these facilities, there’s little, if any, emphasis on actual education. Instead, those “who resist or fail to show enough progress face punishments ranging from verbal abuse to food deprivation, solitary confinement, beatings and use of restraints and stress positions.” The depravity experienced at these camps knows no limits. A number of unfortunate souls, “unable to bear the mistreatment,” have instead taken their own lives.
The painting “A Tragedy in China,” shows a grieving wife in front of her dead husband. She crosses her arms in a show of strength and resilience. Her tortured husband held on to his faith until the end. In his hand, he holds brainwashing papers that the Chinese regime uses to get Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their faith. (The Art of Zhen Shan Ren)
Can you blame them? For a Falun Gong practitioner who finds himself incarcerated, the chances of escape are minimal. Over the past 22 years, thousands of practitioners have been tortured to death in this campaign of terror. In Xinjiang, as I type this piece, genocide is occurring. But, with Falun Gong members, genocide has been occurring for more than two decades. In 2009, lest we forget, in both Spain and Argentina, five senior CCP officials were indicted for committing acts of genocide and torture on Falun Gong practitioners. More shockingly, tens of thousands of innocent practitioners have been murdered by the CCP. Many of these people have had their organs harvested.
In 2013, testifying on the abuses being carried out against Falun Gong members, Ethan Gutmann, an American writer, researcher, author, and a senior research fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said, although there was “no legal way” for Falun Gong practitioners to be executed, he compared the persecution faced by Falun Gong practitioners in China to “the Inquisition.” He warned that innocent people “just disappear.”
Since Gutmann’s chilling testimonial, the disappearances haven’t stopped. Far from it. In 2018, a panel of lawyers and experts, many of whom had been researching China-based atrocities for years, said they had “clear evidence forced organ harvesting” was still occurring, and that imprisoned Falun Gong members appeared to be “the principal source” of “organs for forced harvesting.”
Why were these people butchered and brutalized? Why are Falun Gong members, to this very day, singled out for the most inhumane punishments imaginable? Because they dared to speak the truth; they dared to promote the ideas of peace and unity; and they dared to question the brutal motives of the Chinese regime. Today, let’s remember the brave men and women who have lost their lives and the brave souls who continue to fight the good fight. Those who have left this world may have fallen, but they aren’t forgotten.
John Mac Ghlionn is a researcher and essayist. His work has been published by the likes of the New York Post, Sydney Morning Herald, The American Conservative, National Review, The Public Discourse, and other respectable outlets. He’s also a columnist at Cointelegraph.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
but more to the point, are you prepared to receive more disturbing information regarding this COVID-19 bio terrorism environment that MSM (MAIN STREAM MEDIA) has concealed from the public while simultaneously feeding their traditional disinformation?
Recall how long (and how much money) it took to “unpack” that false TRUMP – RUSSIAN CONNECTION and those resulting ridiculous impeachment hearings cooked up by LEFTIST DEMOCRATS who used the sham to distract Americans from the true QUID PRO QUO talking place within the BIDEN CRIME FAMILY and various foreign governments? The attack on President Trump was only subterfuge to assist in covering up what the LEFT has been doing all along and for a very long time. (Yes, PROJECTION POLITICS – simply accusing their innocent adversary of the exact wrongful activity they are perpetrating.)
Again, thank you PRESIDENT TRUMP for AWAKENING THE AMERICAN PATRIOT as to the depths of betrayal by those Swamp Creatures posing as legitimate government representatives. 2020 election fraud? Heck these TRAITORS TO AMERICA AND HER RULE OF LAW WERE NOT EVEN ELECTED BY THE AMERICAN VOTER BUT SIMPLY APPOINTED BY POLITICAL AND PRIVATE BUSINESS INTERESTS UTILIZING HIGH TECH METHODS TO CHEAT THE SYSTEM.
but i digress…..
Anyway, the allegation that vaccine patents were recorded long before emergence of the disease they were designed to address seems highly suspicious to say the least. The video suggested some answers to questions I have had since this nightmare started such as the initial reports that Chapel Hill N.C. was involved somehow but then all that information was silenced. Disappeared. The time frame also seems quite significant as well since much of this virus patent activity was taking place during a moratorium on the GAIN A FUNCTION bio weapon research.
Who knows what the truth actually is? I have read FACT CHECKS which claim such information is incorrect, yet their support for such a definitive conclusion always seems sketchy, whereas those challenging the current narrative seem to have much evidence to support their objections. Naturally, like everything else, research for yourself but WHATEVER YOU DO – PLEASE DO NOT SIMPLY RELY ON MSM as they have a clear and proven track record for dishonesty and concealing the facts when Democrats are involved.
Can’t help but wonder with all the CCP theft of technology already acknowledged…. could the virus responsible for COVID-19 have actually been stolen by some American University “student agent” of the CCP and then, as they say, the rest is history?
Nury Turkel, the current vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, speaks in an interview with The Epoch Times in May 2021. (The Epoch Times) China Human Rights
WASHINGTON—More than ever, the Chinese Communist Party is finding itself backed into a corner as the world wakes up to its human rights atrocities, according to Nury Turkel, the vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
“China has never been this isolated in the recent memory, and the isolation is making them belligerent,” Turkel told The Epoch Times at the annual International Religious Freedom Summit. “That’s why they are picking fights with camp survivors,” he added.
Turkel was referring to attempts by Chinese officials to publicly shame Uyghur women who gave first hand accounts of sexual abuse at the internment camps in Xinjiang, where up to 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are held under what the regime claims to be a “counter-terrorism” campaign.
In a February press conference, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson held up pictures of the former detainees and called one of them, Tursunay Ziyawudun, an “actress” and accused her of “spreading lies.”
Such behavior, coming from a government official, hardly measures up to the image of “the country that everybody’s scared of,” said Turkel.
Activists including members of the local Hong Kong, Tibetan and Uyghur communities hold up banners and placards in Melbourne, Australia, on June 23, 2021, calling on the Australian government to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over China’s human rights record. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)
Ziyawudun shared her story at the opening of the second day of the Summit. During her year in a camp, beginning in 2018, Ziyawudun said, she saw police officers take Uyghur women from the cells to do “whatever they wanted.” Some of the women were brought back near the point of death. Some others had lost their minds. She witnessed a Uyghur woman in her 20s being raped, while three Han police officers did the same to her.
“These memories make my heart bleed,” she told the attendees on July 14.
Turkel noted that virtually every speaker on Wednesday highlighted the suppression in Xinjiang, which, following the U.S. lead, a growing number of countries have recognized as a “genocide.”
“That’s a miscalculation on Beijing’s behalf,” Turkel said of the regime’s human rights abuses. “They think that they could get away with this as they have done to the Falun Gong practitioners and they have done to Tibetans for years and years.”
Global outcry over human rights atrocities in China have been increasing, with lawmakers pushing for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics from within their respective governments.
Over the past week, the U.S. blacklisted over a dozen Chinese entities that had a role in aiding abuses in the Xinjiang region and the regime’s military modernization, while at the same time it dialed up warnings of business risks in Xinjiang. Forced organ harvesting, a state-sanctioned practice primarily targeting Falun Gong practitioners but also other prisoners of conscience, is also drawing greater scrutiny.
The mounting pressure is not being missed in Beijing. For Chinese leader Xi Jinping to call for communist officials to create a “lovable” Chinese image—this in itself is a sign of insecurity, according to Turkel.
“They are cornered,” he said.
A file image of Nury Turkel, the vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, meeting with the then U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Chinese dissidents in July 2020. (Ron Przysucha/U.S. State Department)
An Uyghur American attorney, Turkel was born in a Chinese re-education camp in Kashgar where his mother was imprisoned. That was during the height of the Cultural Revolution, a decade-long violent campaign that swept China into chaos and killed millions.
Turkel has not returned to China since coming to America 26 years ago. Two years after he left, the regime’s military crushed a large demonstration in his father’s hometown.
The global push back, in his eyes, has come “a little too late.”
It “shouldn’t take a genocide” and it shouldn’t be the end of Hong Kong democracy “for the international community to have this rude awakening,” he said.
A Brookings Institute report, published last year, estimated that the regime has exported its mass surveillance platforms to over 80 countries since 2008. Chinese influence in the West is “everywhere,” in the business, media, academia, and government, Turkel said.
With the regime continuing to project its narrative worldwide, the United States should instead break out of that framework and stop worrying about “how the CCP does things,” said Turkel.
“As a free nation, as a free people, we should do what is right,” he said, adding that “eventually, this will force them to change.”
