Is Tim Walz a Stooge for China?

News reports claim that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Democrat candidate for Vice President, visited China at least thirty times. Many people wondered why Walz would do so. The answer may be coming out into the open. An article by Robert Schmad, a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation, reported the following information. 

During his time in Congress, Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz worked to secure millions for a Minnesota-based lab that worked on a variety of projects with China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, now widely seen as the source of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walz, who is Kamala Harris’ running mate, worked to earmark a total of $7 million for the Hormel Institute in Austin, Minnesota, and praised the work of the publicly funded research institution, the Washington Examiner reported.

However, the Minnesota research center on multiple occasions worked with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, which many suspect was the origin point of the COVID-19 virus, including on COVID-19 research in 2020 and bacteria research in 2024….

The Wuhan Institute of Virology operates under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which reports directly to the Chinese Communist Party’s State Council, the Examiner reported. The institute “has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017,” according to the State Department.

Lawmakers claim that there is evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In May, the federal government cut off funding to the EcoHealth Alliance, a publicly funded U.S. nonprofit that allocated subgrants to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research in part because the research it funded was not conducted with proper oversight.

Walz has described himself as a “strong advocate for The Hormel Institute” and has visited the research center to discuss how it can receive more federal funding, according to the Examiner.

In addition to collaborating with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Hormel Institute has also done considerable work with the Beijing Genomics Institute, which the U.S. Defense Department has designated a “Chinese military company,” meaning that it is “directly or indirectly owned, controlled or beneficially owned by” the Chinese military or otherwise a “military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base.”

Walz has come under fire from lawmakers and conservative critics for his stance on China. The vice-presidential nominee has attended several events set up by members of a nonprofit connected to a Chinese Communist Party intelligence agency.

Schmad explained that in 1991, high school social studies teacher Walz taught his students that communism means “everyone is the same and everyone shares” while discussing life in Communist China.

Schmad also discussed an August letter written by House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to the FBI. Comer explained that the committee recognized that “Gov. Walz has longstanding connections to CCP-connected entities and officials that make him susceptible to the party’s strategy of elite capture, which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.”

In addition, Comer’s letter to the FBI included this sentence: “Reporting about Gov. Walz’s extensive engagement with CCP officials and entities while serving in public office raises questions about possible CCP influence in his decision-making as governor – and, should he be elected, as vice president.”

When the Daily Caller News Foundation requested comments, neither the Hormel Institute nor the Harris campaign replied.

How Do You Plan to Fight the New Strain of COVID-19?

The U.S. Government says that another strain of COVID-19 is now spreading in the United States. First Lady Jill Biden is reported to have the disease, and President Joe Biden is wearing masks. Some school districts have brought back the mask mandates. Americans are worried about more COVID lockdowns or mandates.

Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) says, not so fast. According to Samantha Aschieris at The Daily Signal, Vance introduced legislation last week – the Freedom to Breathe Act -- that would prohibit the return of federal mask mandates. The Senator’s office put out a statement that the act “would apply through the end of 2024” and “would prohibit any federal official, including the President, from issuing mask mandates applying to domestic air travel, public transit systems, or primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools.” 

The statement from Vance’s office added that the act “would also prohibit air carriers, transit authorities, and educational institutions from refusing service to individuals who choose not to wear a mask.” Aschieris reported the following statements from Vance.

We tried mask mandates once in this country. They failed to control the spread of respiratory viruses, violated basic bodily freedom, and set our fellow citizens against one another.

This legislation will ensure that no federal bureaucracy, no commercial airline, and no public school can impose the misguided policies of the past. Democrats say they’re not going to bring back mask mandates – we’re going to hold them to their word….

Vance planned to “request unanimous consent on his Freedom to Breathe Act.” He has support from other senators and organizations. Rog3r Severino, vice president of domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation tweeted, “COVID mask mandates were cruel impositions on school kids with resulting educational and emotional deficits that will burden them for years to come.” He added in the same tweet, “Unscientific, authoritarian policies created a near permanent ‘fell behind’ generation. Never again.”

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), never an advocate for anything Dr. Anthony Fauci, told Jesse Watters in an interview with Fox News, “we should never put our kids back into masks.” Watters stated, “So President [Joe] Biden will be masking and socially distancing all day long, and now a D.C. area elementary school just brought bk masks after three kids tested positive. Sen. Rand Paul, what’s the feeling like over there in Washington now?” The senator replied, “It’s a crime against children.” Paul continued:

Right now, I’m having a battle with the Senate physician who wants to do three vaccines for all of our pages…. They’re 18 years old, and we now know that, guess what, in America, not one healthy child died from COVID.

I’ll repeat that, not one. The number is zero, and yet we’re forcing three vaccines, and we now know that the more vaccines you give to children, the higher the incidence of the heart inflammation.

I am grateful for Vance and Paul who are fighting for common sense about COVID-19. I am totally against any more lockdowns or mandates. Americans are smart enough social distance and wash hands often. We can take care of ourselves without being forced to wear masks or to stay in our homes. Besides, our children and youth suffered mentally, socially, and educationally from the last lockdown and mandates. We must do what is best for the rising generation.

Did China Release COVID-19?

Much is coming out about China and its relationship to COVID-19. The House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a hearing on the origin of COVID-19 despite a warning of disapproval of China.

During the hearing, several lawmakers questioned U.S. responsibility in funding gain-of-function research. Gain-of-function is “the process of making a disease more dangerous or contagious for the purpose of studying a response” according to Fred Lucas. 

The U.S. government looks guilty because it “gave about $600,000 to EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that in turn used the money to pay for coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.” Lucas listed “four takeaways from the hearing.”

1. Lab Leak ‘Only Explanation Credibly Supported by Intelligence, Science, and Common Sense’

The head of U.S. intelligence agencies under President Donald Trump told the panel that a leak from a laboratory is the only reasonable explanation for the rapid spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

“My informed assessment, as a person with as much or more access than anyone to our government’s intelligence during the initial year of the virus outbreak and pandemic onset, has been and continues to be that a lab leak is the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science, and by common sense,” former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, who served from May 2020 until Jan. 21, 2021, testified….

If this were a trial, Ratcliffe said, “the preponderance of circumstantial evidence” from known intelligence would prompt a jury’s guilty verdict “to an accusation that the coronavirus research in the Wuhan lab was responsible for spawning a global pandemic.”

He added: “The Chinese Communist Party would be convicted of going to great lengths to cover up the virus’ origins.” …

2. ‘How-To Manual in Orchestrating a Cover-up’

House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., laid much of the responsibility at the feet of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the recently retired, longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“These scientists have flipped 180 degrees with no new evidence, produced a paper not based on facts, and then may have used that paper to brief the intelligence community and suppress the lab leak hypothesis,” Comer said during the hearing.

“This is a how-to manual in orchestrating a cover-up by using some of the most powerful and influential institutions in our country,” he said. “If you ask me, this was set in motion by Dr. Fauci to hide U.S. funding of gain-of-function research and dodge accountability for a virus that has killed more than 1 million Americans.” ….

3. Wenstrup to China: ‘Intimidation Tactics Will Not Work’

The House select subcommittee will send a letter to the Chinese ambassador to the United States telling the Chinese government to stop trying to intimidate and obstruct the congressional investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup, chairman of the subcommittee, referred to an email message to the panel last week from the Chines Embassy.

“I am reaching out to express our grave concern regarding the COVID-19 origins hearing to be chaired by Congressman Wenstrup next Tuesday,” Li Xiang, a counselor with the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in the April 14 email.

“We firmly oppose it,” Li went on to say.

“We have some news for Beijing. These intimidation tactics will not work,” Wenstrup said early in the hearing Tuesday. “It will not slow down our work. And we will not cease. After the hearing, I’ll be sending a letter to the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. requesting that China cease intimidation tactics and cooperate with this investigation.”

The panel’s chairman also noted that this has been a pattern for the Chinese government, referencing an October 2021 report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

“What is clear is that China does not want the globe to know the origins [of COVID-19],” Wenstrup said. “They dodge and duck every legitimate attempt to investigate this question. According to the fact sheet, China has systematically prevented a transparent and thorough investigation of the COVID pandemic’s origins. According to the ODNI report, China has hindered global investigations.”

4. ‘Hiroshima Event’

The gravity of a man-made virus should carry the same alarm as that of a nuclear bomb, noted Feith, the former State Department official in charge of East Asian and Pacific affairs, commenting on the COVID-19 death toll.

“If COVID emerged from a lab, particularly one conducting gain-of-function virology experiments with technologies invented only a few years ago, then this was akin to a Hiroshima event, revealing new and modern high-tech risks to human civilizations and even our species,” Feith told the select subcommittee….

Are We Through with Masks?

            The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mask mandate was due to expire on April 18 but extended it to May 3, 2022. However, a Florida federal judge overturned the mandate yesterday for public transit and planes. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle declared the mandate to be “unlawful because it exceeded the statutory authority of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and because its implementation violated administrative law,” according to CNN.

            According to Herb Scribner, questions remain about how overturning the mandates will affect “airports and train stations across the country.” One of the questions pertains to whether the Justice Department will appeal the ruling. 

            I was relieved to hear that the judge had overthrown the mandate because I plan to travel before May 3, 2022, the day that the mandate was to be cancelled. I am through with all the mandates given out by the various governments. If I feel vulnerable, I will wear a mask, or I will stay away from large gathering. However, I choose to exercise my agency and my freedom to choose for myself.

Will Governments and Organizations Pay Attention to Study Results?

            Soon after COVID-19 came to America, members of the government told us to stay home for two weeks to “flatten the curve.” Then the lockdown was extended in most areas of the nation, and governments at all levels are using mandates to force people to curtail their employment and other activities.

            Two years have passed since the virus came to our shores, and added information is coming out. In January, Johns Hopkins University released a meta-analysis showing that mortality from COVID-19 in the United States and across Europe was reduced by 0.2%.

According to Laurel Duggan, the researchers analyzed several types of “lockdown measures,” including “school closures, business closures, bans on international travel and internal movement, and other non-pharmaceutical government mandates such as mask mandates.” She summarized the study as finding that “shelter-in-place orders were ineffective” because they reduced “mortality by only 2.9%.” The following quote comes from the study. 

While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social cost…. In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.

Lockdowns have limited peoples’ access to safe (outdoor) places such as beaches, parks, and zoos, or included outdoor mask mandates or strict outdoor gathering restrictions, pushing people to meet at less safe (indoor) places…. We do find some evidence that limiting gatherings was counterproductive and increased COVID-19 mortality.

            John Hopkins University is one of the schools that had fully remote classes for the fall 2020 semester. They urged their students to stay out of Baltimore before holding “partially in-person model in the spring 2021 semester.”

Duggan wrote, “The school still imposes a mask mandate, requiring two masks or a surgical-grade mask, despite nearly universal vaccination of students and staff, a booster shot, and a twice-weekly testing requirement.” She continued, “COVID-19-related school closures, government-imposed mask mandates, and restrictions on travel are still prevalent in the U.S. and internationally.”

How Do Children Deal with the Intensity of COVID-19?

             Families, communities, and nations are stronger when parents and children can discuss concerns openly and honestly. Children and teens know that their world has been turned upside down with COVID-19. Many of them see classmates in Zoom classes only or had their sports teams cancelled. Most of them can no longer play with friends in the neighborhood unless it is outside. It is only natural for children and teens to feel stress just as adults do.

Experts say that parents should not panic if they hear children talking about “Covid” or “Rona” in their playtime talk. 

“Adults process stress verbally,” Laine Young-Walker, the chair of psychiatry at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, told The Washington Post. “They’re able to talk to their loved ones about their fears and concerns. But young children don’t have that ability so you’re more likely to see a behavioral response to stress or to see the stressful or traumatic event coming into their play.”

            Children may be more irritable, have trouble sleeping, or change toileting habits. They may want to talk with their parents about it, or they may benefit from visiting a professional counselor. Others may work out their stress by mixing it right into their play.

“While children may exhibit age-appropriate speech and language skills, they may require time and guidance to nurture their emotional intelligence or ability to monitor their own emotions and link these to preceding situations and resulting behaviors,” said Leela R. Magavi, regional medical director for Community Psychiatry, California’s largest outpatient mental health organization, told The Washington Post. “Consequently, rather than directly speaking with their parents about sadness, anxiety and anger due to COVID-19, children may express their feelings by using their trusted toys.”

            Psychologists say that mixing COVID-19 with playtime is normal. It helps children work through the stress and tension caused by all the changes.

“Play helps modulate their mood,” Sandra Russ, Ph.D., a professor and psychologist at Case Western University, told The New York Times. “They can express these things in little bits in ways that re manageable for them.”

Stories can be an important part of this, Russ said.

“They integrate it, including their fears, and build a story around it,” she said. “That narrative is really important.”

            The bottom line is that children are not just miniature adults. They have different ways of processing stress. One of the ways for children to deal with all the changes of COVID-19 is to mix it into their playtime talk with their toys. Parents should not panic when they hear their little children discussing the terrible disease that has changed life for most of us. Families, communities, and nations can come out of this pandemic with healthier children if we allow them to deal with it in their own way.