Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said he was informed by some members of the U.S. military that they would leave if the armed forces mandated a COVID-19 vaccine, coming after a report claimed Army headquarters told commanders to prepare for mandatory vaccinations in September.

“I’ve been contacted by members of our voluntary military who say they will quit if the COVID vaccine is mandated. I introduced HR 3860 to prohibit any mandatory requirement that a member of the Armed Forces receive a vaccination against COVID-19. It now has 24 sponsors,” Massie wrote on Twitter. He didn’t provide more details.

It’s not clear how the service members could quit or how many would try to do so.

The Republican lawmaker was referring to a report published by the Army Times over the weekend that detailed an executive order sent by the Department of the Army Headquarters that commands should be prepared to administer COVID-19 vaccines starting as early as Sept. 1. The date is contingent on when the Food and Drug Administration issues its full approval of the vaccines.

The Army Times reported it obtained the directive, HQDA EXORD 225-21, COVID-19 Steady State, which reads: “Commanders will continue COVID-19 vaccination operations and prepare for a directive to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for service members [on or around] 01 September 2021, pending full FDA licensure. Commands will be prepared to provide a backbrief on servicemember vaccination status and way ahead for completion once the vaccine is mandated.”

An EXORD is a directive issued by the president to the defense secretary to execute a military operation.

In this May 28, 2019 file photo, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol after he blocked a unanimous consent vote on a long-awaited hurricane disaster aid bill in the chamber. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army for comment. A U.S. Army spokesperson told the Army Times that “we do not comment on leaked documents” and added that “the vaccine continues to be voluntary.”

“If we are directed by [Department of Defense] to change our posture,” the spokesperson added, “we are prepared to do so.”

On Monday, Massie noted that his tweet was “targeted” by “science-illiterate, military hating, angry blue [checkmark]” users on Twitter. “There are no health outcomes based studies that show any benefit from the vaccine for those who have already had COVID,” he wrote.

The congressman also pointed to a Department of Defense study published in late June that found a higher number of military members who got the vaccine experienced higher than expected rates of heart inflammation.

U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force physicians found 23 cases of myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, in previously healthy men. They developed the condition within four days of getting the vaccine, the study published in JAMA Cardiology found.

It comes weeks after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel found a higher rate of heart inflammation after mRNA vaccines were administered. However, the agency and other health officials have said the benefit of getting the vaccine outweighs the risks.

COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Keystone XL Pipeline Developer Seeks $15 Billion in Damages From US

Energy company TC Energy has said it’s seeking $15 billion in damages from the United States government over President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline project.

In a statement on July 2, the Canada-based company said it had filed a notice of intent with the State Department to begin a legacy North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

The company said it aims to “recover economic damages resulting from the revocation of the Keystone XL Project’s Presidential Permit,” adding that it suffered a loss of more than $15 billion “as a result of the U.S. Government’s breach of its NAFTA obligations.”

The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.

Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that halted the Keystone Pipeline project, saying the move was part of his administration’s larger agenda to tackle a projected climate crisis.

Subsequently, TC Energy on June 9 officially pulled out of the project, which was first proposed in 2008 and would carry hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day from Canada into the United States.

While Biden’s decision was hailed by his supporters and many environmentalists, most Republicans and industry groups criticized his executive order blocking the pipeline. Critics have said that tens of thousands of jobs were lost essentially overnight by the pipeline’s cancellation. After Biden revoked the pipeline’s permit, the energy company said it would “directly lead to the layoff of thousands of union workers.”

While asserting that the Keystone project “would not serve the U.S. national interest,” Biden said that his Jan. 20 order is designed to “promote and protect our public health and the environment, and conserve our national treasures and monuments, places that secure our national memory.”

The pipeline was slated to carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day from the Alberta oil sands to Nebraska. It had been delayed for over a decade amid opposition from many environmentalists, Native Americans, and some landowners.

Bloomberg reported in February that Biden’s decision to ban the pipeline has sparked renewed interest in transporting Canada’s oil-sands crude to U.S. refineries by more-carbon-intensive rail, as supplies from Mexico and Venezuela decline. Data show that Canada has been exporting an average of 129,727 barrels of oil per day by rail for the month of April as the industry continues to discuss alternatives to address the demise of the Keystone XL project.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a statement on June 9 that he remains “disappointed and frustrated with the circumstances surrounding the Keystone XL project, including the cancellation of the presidential permit for the pipeline’s border crossing.”

Reports say the province had invested roughly $1.1 billion in the pipeline, which means it’ll now have to take a loss on the project.

In May, 19 Republican-led states, led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, called on the president (pdf) to reinstate the pipeline.

China Courts US Consumers Through a Familiar Storefront in Amazon

Despite fake reviews, China-based merchants make up 50 percent of all Amazon sellers

News Analysis

“Made in China” is a phrase with which all U.S. consumers are intimately familiar.

In past decades, that term referred to major branded products sold at U.S. stores manufactured by factories located in China. For example, a Matchbox car bought from Toys “R” Us and made in China by Mattel. Today, U.S. consumers are increasingly purchasing Chinese-branded products from Chinese stores directly over the internet, and both Beijing and the world’s largest online retailer—Amazon.com—have been facilitating that trend.

Half of Amazon Sellers Based in China

On Amazon, 50 percent of all global sellers are based in China, according to data from Marketplace Pulse, a website that provides e-commerce market data. Those sellers store their goods and products in the United States at Amazon’s warehouses, so the items are shipped domestically and qualify for fast “Prime” shipping—also dubbed as the “Fulfillment by Amazon” program.

Chinese sellers make up the highest percentage of all sellers on

Amazon.es, the company’s Spanish retail website, at 64 percent. More than 50 percent of Amazon’s French, Canadian, and Italian sites are Chinese sellers, highlighting a dearth of domestic e-commerce companies within those countries. Amazon’s U.S. website is made up of 44 percent Chinese sellers, meaning the majority of sellers on the U.S. website are based in the United States—for now.

But the U.S. trend is also shifting. More than 60 percent of new sellers on Amazon’s U.S. website in January 2021 were from China, compared to less than 40 percent in January 2020, according to Marketplace Pulse data. Globally, China’s share of new sellers is even higher, 75 percent, for Amazon’s websites as a whole.

While these raw numbers could be skewed because some sellers maintain multiple selling accounts, the directional trend is clear: Amazon is the largest and most efficient direct-to-consumer vehicle for Chinese brands to target U.S. and European consumers. And China is the world’s biggest factory and arguably has the highest e-commerce adoption. On paper, it shouldn’t be shocking that many products on Amazon are from China.

But there’s a transparency concern. Since the sellers all market their products on Amazon’s local e-commerce websites, consumers may be unaware that they’re purchasing their products directly from Chinese stores.

E-Commerce Expansion a Key Initiative for Beijing

This trend has been years in the making.

In China, the “Made in China, sold on Amazon” motto is a critical business model for Chinese e-commerce merchants. Merchants selling products on Amazon have formed a hub in the southern city of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, a region dubbed as China’s “Silicon Valley.” Many well-known brands on Amazon are headquartered there, including Aukey, Mpow, RAVPower, and Taotronics, which all make popular tech accessories sold on Amazon.

This strategy has the blessing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the highest levels.

On July 1, China’s customs began implementing a new, faster clearance system for outbound business-to-business e-commerce in an effort “to promote healthy and orderly development of cross-border e-commerce and to help the expansion of Chinese companies in international markets,” according to a South China Morning Post report.

This effort has cabinet-level support. Premier Li Keqiang said at a late June meeting of the State Council that cross-border e-commerce is a key strategic initiative for Beijing and signaled for Chinese merchants to build up their inventories abroad and increase logistical capabilities.

While the biggest merchants had an advantage before, the new rules should allow smaller Chinese merchants to clear customs faster.

There’s a Chinese cottage industry to support this as well. A website called Yuguo Platform provides training courses for Chinese sellers to establish themselves on Amazon, AliExpress, TikTok, eBay, and a number of foreign e-commerce websites.

It’s important to note that Amazon currently doesn’t operate an e-commerce site in China, having shut down Amazon.cn in 2019, citing domestic competition from the likes of Alibaba and JD.com. However, Amazon maintains operations in China for its non-e-commerce business lines.

A Tumultuous Relationship

Amazon has also actively courted Chinese sellers.

Amazon has built a Chinese-language website specifically catering to Chinese sellers, offering tutorials and guidance on setting up storefronts. Amazon also holds “seller conferences” in several cities across China to gather current and potential sellers for education and networking sessions.

The Seattle-based giant doesn’t disclose the number of gross sales made by third parties (non-Amazon sales) or the number of sales made by Chinese third-party sellers, so the magnitude of China-originated sales is unknown. A representative from Amazon declined to provide China-based sales numbers in an emailed statement.

Founder and Chairman Jeff Bezos’s mantra is putting customers first, which includes offering products at the lowest prices—often sourced from China.

“How in the world can a company in China make, ship, and pay Amazon fees and commissions and sell an item for $3 when it costs more than an American seller can even buy it for wholesale?” A U.S.-based seller wrote in a post on Amazon’s seller forums. “We have an item manufactured for us in China and we sell it at $10 and make only a couple of bucks after all the costs. The same company that makes our product sells it on Amazon 5 for $10 ($2 a piece). How is that possible?”

Amazon has also battled integrity issues with its Chinese sellers. Several China-based storefronts on Amazon were temporarily suspended in May 2021, including those of popular sellers Mpower and Aukey.

While Amazon didn’t disclose the reasons for the suspensions, the enforcement actions were related to fake product reviews, according to a letter Amazon sent to its third-party seller base.

Amid the competitive environment, some vendors have resorted to paying customers for product reviews. This author has received e-mails from certain China-based vendors to post reviews on Amazon in exchange for an Amazon gift card, which is a violation of Amazon’s seller agreement.

“I admit that I pay for some reviews, but that’s because my competitors are doing the same. I have to do it, too,” a seller wrote in a discussion forum of an online merchant community about Amazon’s fake review crackdown, according to a South China Morning Post report.

“If there’s a healthy environment for competition, who would want all these deceptions?”

America’s Largest Teachers’ Union Votes to Help Members ‘Fight Back Against Anti-CRT Rhetoric’

The largest labor and teachers’ union has voted to spread and further the teaching of the quasi-Marxist critical race theory (CRT), which it describes as a “reasonable” and “appropriate” framework for students to understand and interpret America’s past and present.

The National Education Association (NEA), which represents more than 3 million employees in public education, on June 30 kicked off its 100th Representative Assembly. During the four-day online convention, the union adopted a measure that would commit at least $127,600 to advance its pro-CRT agenda.

According to the plan, the NEA will share and publicize information about “what CRT is and what it is not,” dedicate a “team of staffers” to assist union members who “want to learn more and fight back against anti-CRT rhetoric,” and provide a study that critiques “power and oppression” in American society, including “white supremacy,” “cisheteropatriarchy,” and capitalism.

The union also declared that it opposes attempts to ban CRT and the New York Times’ highly controversial “1619 Project,” which recasts American history on the claim that the United States was founded, and remains today, a racist nation.

In addition, the measure calls for an “accurate and honest” teaching of “unpleasant aspects of American history,” and affirms that CRT is an appropriate framework for educators to address those topics.

“The Association will further convey that in teaching these topics, it is reasonable and appropriate for curriculum to be informed by academic frameworks for understanding and interpreting the impact of the past on current society, including critical race theory,” the measure reads on NEA’s website.

The vote comes after the NEA approved another measure, which seeks to “research the organizations attacking educators doing anti-racist work” and put together “a list of resources and recommendations for state affiliates, locals, and individual educators to utilize when they are attacked.”

“The research, resources, and recommendations will be shared with members through NEA’s social media, an article in NEA Today, and a recorded virtual presentation/webinar,” it says. The item was approved with an initial annual budget of $56,500.

The reason behind the measure, according to the NEA’s website, it that the “attacks on anti-racist teachers are increasing, coordinated by well-funded organizations such as the Heritage Foundation,” and that the union needs to be “better prepared to respond to these attacks so that our members can continue this important work.”

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, has been hosting vocal opponents of CRT, including author and filmmaker Christopher Rufo, who has written extensively to expose the CRT’s Marxist origins, how critical race theorists seek to undermine the foundations of American society, and how the ideology infiltrates schools, businesses, and government agencies.

“The national teachers union is funding an attack machine against me, @Gundisalvus, and our allies,” Rufo wrote on Twitter in response to the NEA vote, tagging Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation. “We were born for this fight—and will show no mercy to the corrupt ideologues who are ruining American education. Swords up!”

Today's news in a nutshell

Pompeo: Adversaries Like China Capitalize on US Race Division

Majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of border, poll shows

National Geographic has suggested that holiday fireworks are racist because the smoke pollution “disproportionately” hurts minorities — sparking a firestorm of criticism from readers.

NPR faces backlash after criticizing Declaration of Independence

COVID

Healthy Michigan boy, 13, dies in his sleep three days after receiving his second dose of Pfizer Covid vaccine as CDC launches investigation

Fauci-Funded EcoHealth Refuses To Give Wuhan Documents To Congress

STRIKES

Multiple Rockets Hit Iraq's Largest US Base In Apparent Revenge

Attack

HACKING

Kaseya supply‑chain attack: What we know so far

Champlain Towers, FL

WORLD

Brazil's Bolsonaro implicated in alleged graft scheme as lawmaker, UOL reports

Myanmar rights violations under scrutiny from new task force

Rescuers in Japan hunt for 80 missing after deadly landslides

LGBT+ campaigners in Georgia call off pride march after office attack

The Epoch Times

Military Members Say They’ll ‘Quit’ If Army Mandates COVID-19 Vaccine: Congressman