Punk might have been on the rise but Rush, Genesis, Jon Anderson, Van der Graaf Generator, Kansas, Alan Parsons, Camel and Soft Machine released records that became all-time greats. But which one is your favourite – and why?

Longtime Daily Wire readers are no doubt familiar with Xi Van Fleet — an activist, scholar, and survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Xi has done more than most to shed light on the horrors of Chinese communism and to sound the alarm about the rising threat of socialism in the United States. We were proud to publish her scathing portrait of Zohran Mamdani and her five-part series “American Maoists: Warnings From The Cultural Revolution.” Today, we’re honored to bring you an exclusive excerpt from her forthcoming book “Made in America: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Enabled Communist China and Created Our Greatest Threat.” Co-authored with Chinese dissident Yu Jie, the book explores how American academics, writers, and politicians helped Communist China become a global superpower. In the excerpt below, Xi and Yu examine three little-known American journalists who helped sell Mao’s lies to the world — and warn that Xi Jinping is working to do the same with American journalists today. — Tim Rice *** Edgar Snow, Agnes Smedley, and Anna Louise Strong — three Americans from the Midwest — were collectively known in China as the “Three S’s,” the leading Western journalists who made an immeasurable contribution to the Chinese communist cause, with Snow regarded as the most influential of the trio. In 1984, the Smedley-Strong-Snow Society of China was established under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to honor their contributions. The society organizes commemorative events, preserves archives, and promotes research on their roles in advancing the Chinese Communist movement. And all three of the S’s were individually featured on postage stamps issued in China. Because Smedley and Strong were openly Communist and connected to the Communist International, their work was often dismissed in the West due to its overt ideological slant. Snow, by contrast, was seen as an independent voice. This perceived neutrality gave his work greater credibility in the West, making it arguably more deceptive and dangerous. Today, the CCP is actively seeking new “Snows” for Xi Jinping’s “new era,” those who can fulfill a similar role as Edgar Snow in promoting China’s narrative on the global stage. In 2021, the CCP media outlet China Daily launched the Edgar Snow Newsroom, aimed at recruiting foreign reporters to engage in propaganda work for the CCP. Evidently, there is no shortage of candidates for the CCP to choose from. The widespread popularity of the work of the Three S’s can be attributed to the historical context of the 1930s. During this time, the United States was still recovering from the Great Depression, which had deeply shaken confidence in capitalism. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal introduced socialist policies, reflecting a broader leftward shift in American society. Interestingly, Edgar Snow noted in Red Star Over China that Mao Zedong held a favorable view of President Roosevelt, even expressing interest in learning about FDR’s New Deal. Mao was likely inspired by FDR’s large-scale government initiatives aimed at rapid economic transformation. In this historic environment, writings that glorified and promoted Chinese Communism unsurprisingly found a receptive audience among American readers, who were increasingly exploring alternative economic and political ideologies. Later, Edgar Snow’s 1936 visit to China and extensive interviews conducted with Mao Zedong  marked the beginning of the CCP’s campaign to cultivate allies among American influencers, particularly journalists and writers. From there, the party steadily expanded its network of “old friends” to encompass government officials, military leaders, politicians, policymakers, and, eventually, the upper ranks of major corporations and business elites. One might argue that these influencers were merely deceived by the Chinese Communists. But the truth is far less forgiving: they were deceived because they wanted to be. They saw not what was real but what they longed to see. They heard not the truth but what confirmed their ideals and fed their convictions. Though they came from diverse backgrounds, they shared one defining trait: a left-leaning political orientation, ranging from liberal sympathizers like Edgar Snow to committed communists like Agnes Smedley and Anna Louise Strong. History has shown, time and again, that the ideological leap from liberalism to communism is often alarmingly short. These bleeding-heart liberals helped legitimize and elevate a regime that would go on to unleash unimaginable human suffering. Safely removed from the consequences, they never lived under the tyranny they helped glorify. Many never paused to reflect on the reality that every word they wrote in praise of the Communist Party came at the cost of real human lives — millions of them. Words can kill, and the pen can be as deadly as any bullet. This tragic chapter of history must not be forgotten. *** Xi Van Fleet and Yu Jie are authors of the forthcoming book “Made in America: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Enabled Communist China and Created Our Greatest Threat.” The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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The ore was recovered in the early 1970s and completely stumped scientists, until they realized it was evidence of something remarkable and ancient.

In the wake of Minnesota’s massive fraud scheme busts, some states have started questioning what’s going on within their own borders. In Montana, Commissioner of Insurance and State Auditor James Brown’s curiosity spurred him to do some digging, and what he found made his jaw drop.On this episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn sits down with Brown to expose the massive Obamacare fraud scheme he recently uncovered in Montana. “It’s bad,” Brown says of the scandal. “This is government at its worst. It's human nature at its worst.”Under Obamacare, members of federally recognized Native American tribes can sign up for Marketplace health insurance plans anytime (not just during open enrollment), often with little or no out-of-pocket costs.“This scheme involved targeting at-risk Native Americans who live on reservations in Montana, fraudulently enrolling them on Obamacare, then physically transporting them across state lines, which is, as you know, human trafficking, and then billing our insurance company for rehab treatments that did not take place or were unnecessary or performed at greatly inflated costs,” Brown explains.“And then what would happen is these Native Americans who were targeted then were just dumped out on the streets in Arizona and Southern California.”“Why were they taken across state lines?” Glenn asks.Brown explains that a lack of “proper oversight” in places like Los Angeles and Phoenix enabled fraudsters to exploit the Affordable Care Act’s strong protections for mental health and addiction treatment. Under those federal parity laws, insurers are required to cover rehab the same as regular medical care — even from out-of-state providers — allowing distant rehab facilities to rake in large sums of money from fake or inflated bills.Glenn follows up with the obvious: How much money are we talking here?“Fifty million with an M in fraud committed through this scheme,” says Brown, adding that the good news is this awareness has allowed his office to prevent another “23.3 million” from being stolen.But money is only half the horror.“There's 200 Native Americans that have probably been victimized by this,” says Brown.However because his jurisdiction is limited to the Montana border, and much of this fraud is taking place outside state lines, he is heavily reliant on the feds for prosecutions.“Are they actively pursuing this?” Glenn asks.“The Trump administration has been very helpful on the CMS side, which is the federal agency that administers Obamacare. They've been very active in working with us to make sure these fraudulent payments stop,” says Brown. “Not so much luck so far on the criminal prosecution side, but we are working on that.”To hear more details about the massive fraud schemes uncovered in Montana, watch the full interview above.Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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