What I learned about The Epoch Times
Recent RH Line comments about The Epoch Times compelled me to share what I have learned about the publication.
1) The Epoch Times is affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement. The news outlet was founded in 2000 in response to censorship inside China and a lack of international understanding about the Chinese government’s repression of Falun Gong. The Epoch Times has grown to become an international news source published in at least 35 countries. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times).
2) According to Rocky Mountain PBS, The Epoch Times has a mysterious ownership structure and has elevated conspiracy theories and used suspicious marketing strategies that resulted in their being banned from advertising on Facebook. (https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/news/epoch-times-billboards-denver/)
3) Ad-Fontes Media, a non-partisan Colorado-based company that rates news stories and sources for bias and reliability, gives The Epoch Times a rating of strong right bias and problematic reliability. (https://adfontesmedia.com/epoch-times-bias-and-reliability/#:~:text=Overview,Problematic%20in%20terms%20of%20reliability)
4) A few days ago, the chief financial officer of The Epoch Times was indicted for an alleged $67 million money-laundering scheme that involved purchasing crime proceeds via cryptocurrency, with the gains ultimately being moved back into The Epoch Times accounts. For years, the scheme worked to pump tens of millions of dollars into the news outlet. (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg66xe59zyeo)
I hope that anyone who was graced with a free copy of The Epoch Times takes the time to examine whether it is a trustworthy news source. I use the S-I-F-T method: Stop (do not go down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole) and Investigate by Finding better coverage and Tracing references and sources (lateral reading).
My opinion: The Epoch Times is not worth the cost or effort of lighting a perfectly good match for burning; just throw it in the recycle bin where it can eventually be redeemed in a more useful form.
Linda Hutchinson, Loveland
Ukraine is none of our business
I wrote a piece in this paper a few years ago warning about how Biden’s policies were pushing the Russian Federation to the brink of nuclear war with the USA and Europe. Well, we are now at the redline. Ukraine is none of our business. It never was any of our business. Ukraine has never been a partner, nor ally, in the last 250 years of our history.
It may be the business of Germany and the EU. This is their issue, not ours. So far, they never fight, never pay their share, never send their boys to die. The German obsession with climate change is severely damaging their economic and energy security. In a few years, it will do the same to us. Americans need reality in energy policy. The USA should be far more cautious about giving offensive weapons to Ukraine, a country that is none of our business.
I am not pro Russia and think Putin is a monster. I am pro America and pro keeping my grandchildren free of nuclear warheads frying them to oblivion.
Thomas Potts, Loveland
Staring into the abyss of American democracy
Elections have consequences for many things — some good and others not so — including democratic rule. Will the 2024 election produce good or bad consequences for democracy in America? Will rule by elected authoritarians become real?
Will you, the voter, choose a future where elected authoritarians and wannabe dictators rule or one in which decency and the rule of law prevails? Here are two questions that will help you decide the future of American democracy:
1. Should more than 800 persons who have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury for attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, be pardoned by the president? Think about it.
2. Should U.S. civil servants be replaced by individuals loyal only to the president, not the Constitution? Is loyalty only to the president, not the Constitution! Inconceivable? Think about it.
Let’s not totter at the precipice and stare into the abyss of American democracy. Don’t you agree?
These questions are based on an article published in Time magazine April 30, 2024, “How Far Trump Would Go,” by Eric Cortellessa.
Don Menzel, Loveland
Shared wisdom from Thomas Sowell
Thought I’d share some thoughts from a well-known person of common sense and brilliant mind, Thomas Sowell. Here are a few of his words of wisdom.
“Civil rights used to be about treating everyone the same. But today, some people are so used to special treatment that equal treatment is considered to be discrimination.”
“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce and canonized those who complain.”
“What exactly is your ‘fair share’ of what someone else has worked for?”
“I have never understood why it is greed to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else’s money.”
“We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did, but we are all responsible for what somebody else did.”
“The next time some academics tell you how important diversity is, ask how many conservatives there are in their sociology department.”
I hope these quotes give you something to think about. We should pay attention to those that stimulate our brains. When Thomas Sowell passes, we will lose a great mind and good person.
Nick Thompson, Loveland
Work toward a housing first community
First, let me express appreciation for the Reporter-Herald’s June 5 article “Loveland City Council approves code amendment for homeless shelters” and to the council for moving in the right direction toward eliminating homelessness in our community.
However, I was most distressed by the first paragraphs: “The Loveland City Council didn’t approve a homeless shelter at its meeting on Tuesday, but it did approve new land use standards for such facilities. With a 7 to 1 vote, the council agreed to add an amendment to the city’s unified development code (UDC) that defines a homeless shelter, identifies appropriate zoning districts and enumerates conditions for city approval.”
“Didn’t approve a homeless shelter …“ What? So instead, suffering people must wander the streets in despair? While it would have been prudent to indicate why this shelter wasn’t approved — maybe it contained radioactive waste or toxic pesticides — it seems like almost any shelter is better than none. Homelessness is a life-threatening and health-threatening situation.
I recently encountered a woman who’s starting a new job but still living in her car. This is “putting the cart before the horse,” since most employers need workers well-rested, clean and odor-free. It’s almost impossible to get adequate sleep/rest, a shower and clean clothes without a home. Functional communities have a “housing first” policy.
Housing/shelter is a basic human right, fundamental to social and economic justice. While the city is on the right track, all the government bureaucracy and red tape continues to exacerbate our community’s homelessness problem and create more dysfunctional, helpless, hopeless people. Please pray and work for affordable housing and for an end to unreasonable regulations that prevent many people from having the sanity, serenity, stability and empowerment of their own home.
Rev. Dr. Victoria A. Gardner, Loveland
