By Jane Fishman One thing leads to another. A stay-at-home order. Long days to reach the back of a closet. Time to hone on the real me, the minimalist. Forget that I have two houses, two cars, two computers, more jean jackets than I could ever wear. Carmela and I start on the pantry. Four bags of forgotten flaxseed. We move to the freezer. Five pounds of shrimp. We pry open a drawer. Birth announcements of kids who are now teens. We’re discarding. We’re discovering. We feel good. Then reality hits. “Mom is a hoarder,” the stepdaughter says. “We know that. But you, Jane, you are a junior hoarder, you are a hoarder-in-training.” Me? I wear the same thing every day. I have six pairs of shoes, one purse, three sweatshirts. She ignores me. “What about all those sketchbooks, the two suitcases of T-shirts, the three shoeboxes of faded photographs, income tax statements from the aughts, as you like to say. You both have too much stuff. Don’t leave me with all that crap-o-la to go through.” Point taken. Many of us have been down that route with parents who have passed on, where we spend days clearing out china cabinets, sorting through a dozen pair of leather gloves, wondering about all the costume jewelry. I got rid of most of it, I report. Except five of my mom’s vastly different styles of prescription eyeglasses, her six passports, her shell collection, her silver. But what to do with it all? For a while the silver “went missing.” I couldn’t find it anywhere. Turns out that after I rented out my furnished house when I left town for a few years, I jammed it in an empty 50-pound bag of dog food that I stuffed in the pantry. No one would think to look there, I reasoned. Including me. Panic. Now we use it, as in every day. Oh, the sound of sterling compared to flatware! The weight of the cutlery! To rent out the beach house in March, I threw a bunch of clothes into a large suitcase, deposited it in a locked room and forgot about it. After we moved back in for a stretch of time, I opened the suitcase, stared at the clothes and realized I hadn’t missed anything there. Nothing. What does that mean? Even before the lockdown, I tended to wear the same four pairs of jeans, three T-shirts, two long-sleeved black shirts, one dressy long-sleeved white shirt and three or four wraparound schmattas for walking the dogs, pulling weeds or heading to the beach. Undergarments as in bras? Forget about ‘em. I haven’t burned them or hung them on a statue in New Orleans’ Jackson Square, but I haven’t looked at them either. How much stuff does one person need? And yet we keep getting more – something on sale, a holiday gift, a birthday gift. It’s not unusual to come home to find three large black plastic bags of clothes recycled from niece Sarah down the street who got them from an aunt with a shopping problem who doesn’t fit into anything anymore. I’m weak. I end up taking a new long-sleeved black shirt, a University of Georgia sweatshirt, a roomy T-shirt. But what do I like best? The shirt with the frayed collar, the worn sleeve, the cut-out neck. They have the history, they tell the stories. Still. Who has enough closet space? I thought I might be on to something when I stopped on the beach to watch a huge freighter crawl down the Savannah River. It was heading for the Port of Savannah. The name on the side of the stacked 40-foot containers read in huge letters COSCO. Aha! I thought. Now that big-box behemoth multinational, the fifth largest retailer in the world, the chain everyone craves (“If only we had a Costco”) has its own freight company too. Wrong. COSCO stands for China Ocean Shipping Company. Its headquarters are in Beijing. It owns 1,114 ships and calls on over 1,000 ports worldwide. The store that would change people’s lives? That’s COSTCO. Doesn’t matter. More junk. More plastic. More things. I thought we might get a grip during the pandemic. I thought there might be time for a correction. I even remembered the 1971 book, Diet for a Small Planet. Nah. We’re not there yet. Between all the genius marketing, the algorithms, the advertiser “spies,” we, including me, continue, my friends, to be sold a cluttered bill of goods. Jane Fishman’s got a great life in Savannah. She gets to grow garlic, write newspaper columns in the Savannah Morning News about any wacko she can find (and get paid for it), publish books (her latest: I’d Rather Be Seen Than Viewed, a collection of her columns; preceded by So What’s the Hurry? Tales From the Train ; I Grew it My Way, How Not to Garden; The Dirt on Jane; and The Woman Who Saved an Island, the Story of Sandy West and Ossabaw Island), listen in on conversations with her two grandchildren, Baker and Benny, while going on morning nature walks as they debate which is better, living in the country or the city (“I like both habitats,” says 7-year-old Benny). Fishman owned a laundromat in Eureka Springs, Ark., cooked in a French restaurant in Key West, won a bunch of journalism awards in Savannah for humorous and serious columns. When she lived in Chicago and worked at WTTW public television, she met Fran of Kukla, Fran and Ollie and watched Abbie Hoffman rant at the trial of the Chicago 7. Fishman grew up in Detroit (Huntington Woods, really), where she never owned a car. She was the sports editor of her high school newspaper (The Acorn) at Royal Oak Dondero. This is her first wedding.

Opinion by Jeffrey D. Sachs | CNN.com May 12, 2021 Editor's Note: Jeffrey Sachs is a professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and president of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. His most recent book is "The Ages of Globalization" (Columbia University Press, 2020). The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author; view more opinion on CNN (CNN) - Widespread vaccine coverage in the US is rapidly reducing new infections, illnesses and deaths from Covid-19. States and cities are quickly removing restrictions on business and leisure activities. Yet, while the public enjoys the return to normalcy, governments behind the scenes should be ramping up public health systems to guard against another possible wave and to build more competency for the inevitable next epidemic, whenever it may arise. First, a note of warning. Newly confirmed cases in the US are now below 40,000 per day. This is down from the peak in January, when new cases reached over 300,000 per day. And daily cases continue to decline, even more rapidly. Yet, just before India's recent surge to over 400,000 cases per day, that country had reported just over 10,000 cases per day as recently as early March. It's a reminder that the Covid-19 epidemic can spread from very few cases to a devastating surge at a terrifying rate, in just a few weeks. India's recent surge resulted from two factors: one, the government completely let down its guard in March, declaring that the pandemic was "in the endgame." The second is that the Indian public engaged in the breathtakingly risky behavior of mass gatherings, most notably the mass religious celebration, the Kumbh Mela, gathering around 3.5 million people, which should surely have been postponed. Large political rallies were also encouraged. The US would seem to be protected from any such surge, given the mass immunization coverage in the US today (with 46% of the population having received at least one shot) compared with the negligible vaccine coverage in India at the time of India's surge (just 2% in mid-March with at least one jab, and around 10% now). Yet any sense of invulnerability, which many Americans displayed even before the arrival of mass vaccinations, would be misplaced. Though almost half of Americans have received at least one dose, the unwillingness of many Americans to be vaccinated is strong. Unvaccinated people will continue to fall sick, transmit the virus to others, and in unlucky cases, die. The vaccinated population will indeed protect those who are not vaccinated by reducing the transmission of the virus, but sporadic and serious outbreaks are likely to continue, especially in places with low overall vaccine coverage. And, while the vaccines are wonderfully effective in preventing serious illness, some vaccinated individuals can become infected and may possibly transmit the virus to others. Other more systemic risks are also lurking. As the pandemic rages in many parts of the world, India and beyond, the virus will continue to mutate. The existing vaccines may prove to be ineffective against one or more of the new variants. The vaccine companies are experimenting with modified vaccines and new vaccine regimens. There is also significant uncertainty about the duration of protection provided by the current vaccines (or past infection). Experience will tell us whether another jab will be needed in a year, or perhaps sooner, to prevent reinfection. For all of these reasons, the arrival of the summer and the reopening of daily life calls for steadfast precaution alongside celebration, both from the public and by governments at all levels. For the public, there is one overarching message: get vaccinated. The lies of the anti-vax community are disgusting and must be countered. Voices like Tucker Carlson and anyone enabling him (like his employer Fox News and the advertisers) should face opprobrium and consumer boycotts, and perhaps class action lawsuits, for purveying reckless lies about vaccinations. Another message for the public is to be aware of and to heed the continuing risks. We should all avoid mass indoor gatherings; welcome the use by businesses of "vaccine passports" to ensure safe places for vaccinated people to gather; use face masks whenever in doubt; monitor one's own symptoms and possible Covid-19 illnesses among close contacts and get tested immediately if necessary, and heed the professional public health advice. Businesses should improve indoor ventilation systems to reduce indoor viral transmission. Too many Americans have been heedless of risks during the pandemic, and by doing so contributed to the confirmed death toll of nearly 600,000 Americans. An even greater responsibility lies with governments at all levels. The federal, state and local governments in the US have so far failed during the pandemic, with few exceptions. Most importantly, they didn't properly track the community transmission of the virus through active surveillance methods, including widespread testing, contact tracing, and systematic isolation of infected individuals, which could have broken the transmission of the epidemic. This is what Australia, China, Korea, New Zealand, Vietnam, and others have done very successfully, with Covid-19 death tolls that are a tiny fraction of America's. As the new daily cases in the US come down to much lower levels in future weeks, every city and state government should begin tracking each case. The caseload will be low enough to make this manageable. Each new case should be investigated. Was the person vaccinated? Was this a reinfection? Who are the possible sources of the infection? To whom else might the virus have been transmitted? All potential contacts should be traced. Superspreader events should be quickly identified for tracing those who were present. Rigorous laboratory work should pursue sampling of the population to check for dangerous variants and for early evidence of any new outbreaks caused by variants. This data should also be collated rapidly and routinely at the national level by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and made public with detailed briefings to explain their ongoing significance. Government officials at all levels should be emphasizing the need for immunizations for those who are not yet vaccinated, and should be publicizing the findings regarding the variants. As this heightened control effort proceeds within the US, the Biden administration should also be working urgently with the World Health Organization to coordinate with the other vaccine-producing regions -- China, the European Union, India and Russia -- to expedite the immunization of the adult population worldwide. This is not only the fair thing to do, but the self-interested thing as well. Until the emergence of new viral variants and the introduction of new infections from abroad are under control, any advances in the US alone will be provisional at best. With the billions of doses of vaccines now expected to be produced worldwide in the coming 12 months, an organized global effort with US leadership could achieve worldwide coverage of all adults who want vaccines by early 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/12/opinions/tips-to-safely-reopen-us-covid-sachs/index.html

FRED PLOTKIN is one of America’s foremost experts on opera and has distinguished himself in many fields as a writer, speaker, consultant and as a compelling teacher. He is an expert on everything Italian, the person other so-called Italy experts turn to for definitive information.  Fred discovered the concept of "The Renaissance Man" as a small child and has devoted himself to pursuing that ideal as the central role of his life. In a “Public Lives” profile in The New York Times on August 30, 2002, Plotkin was described as "one of those New York word-of-mouth legends, known by the cognoscenti for his renaissance mastery of two seemingly separate disciplines: music and the food of Italy." In the same publication, on May 11, 2006, it was written that "Fred is a New Yorker, but has the soul of an Italian."

By Andy Borowitz May 10, 2021 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—With a new Associated Press poll showing Joe Biden garnering a sixty-three-per-cent general-approval rating, Republicans are accusing the President of “artificially inflating” that number through “blatant displays of competence.” “Joe Biden is the consummate Washington insider, and he knows how to game these polls,” Senator Rand Paul said. “If you want to get a high approval rating, all you have to do is do a job that people approve of.” Senator Ted Cruz agreed. “Joe Biden is so desperate to have a high approval rating that he’s been using every day in office to deliver results to the American people,” he charged. “I for one find this behavior beneath contempt.” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called Biden’s seventy-one-per-cent approval rating for his handling of the pandemic “a joke,” noting, “If all you care about is people liking the way you handle the pandemic, I guess you’d handle the pandemic all the livelong day. Big whoop.” The Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, said that Biden “should take no comfort” in his high approval numbers. “When people get tired of Biden’s competence—and they will—they’ll vote Republican,” he said. Andy Borowitz is a Times best-selling author and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He writes The Borowitz Report, a satirical column on the news.

By Jessie Seigel / Washington, D.C. In this time of Covid-19, our nation seems beset by an endless societal madness. First there were the persistent claims that Covid was a hoax, despite hospitals being overwhelmed by Covid cases and deaths. Then there was the refusal to take the simple protective measure of wearing a mask; the mocking and intimidation of those who did wear masks; public tantrums; and even shootings when store employees or fellow customers asked a non-masker to don one. Even some officials—senators and congressmen—from whom one expects a degree of maturity and leadership, joined in the refusals. Now we have at least three vaccines and an Administration that is attempting to help as many people as possible get vaccinated. But some of those in rebellious denial of the problem are not only refusing to save themselves, but are actively attempting to prevent others from obtaining vaccinations. In January, a group of anti-vaccine protesters briefly shut down a mass inoculation site at LA’s Dodger Stadium; in February, Florida anti-vaxxers shouted and waved signs, harassing healthcare workers waiting in line to enter a Tampa sports stadium for shots. Anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories range from the notion that Covid-19 is a plague created to shut down churches to the charge that the Bill Gates is using Covid vaccines to implant microchips that will track us with digital IDs. The vaccines have been called “bioweapons” by anti-vaxxers. Some have even claimed that vaccinated people are “shedding mutant viruses.” (The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines don’t contain any virus at all, so could not shed virus, mutant or otherwise. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine contains an inactivated common cold virus, which likewise would not shed.) Meanwhile, the more people that are vaccinated, the more likely we are to reach herd immunity, making the spread of the virus from person to person unlikely. That would protect the entire community, not just those who are immune. Contrariwise, as reported by Rolling Stone in February in “How the Anti-Vaxxers Got Red-Pilled,” “the larger the group of unvaccinated individuals, the more chance the virus can mutate to pose a danger, even to the already vaccinated.” The magazine quoted physician Ashish Jha, the dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health: “Large outbreaks anywhere can give rise to variants that can escape vaccines everywhere…It’s the nightmare scenario of a never-ending pandemic.” Reasonable concerns It has been argued that we should not label anti-vaxxers as crazy because it will further alienate them, and make it more difficult to convince them to get vaccinated. And admittedly, there are legitimate reasons to feel cautious about vaccines, especially when they are new. Wishing to wait a period of time to see what side effects or problems might arise from a new vaccine is not unreasonable. This was particularly true for the Covid vaccines because, in hurrying to develop them, the Trump administration seemed more concerned about the virus’ effect on the economy and Trump’s chances for re-election than making sure the vaccines were safe. That raised a question of whether the process for approving the vaccines could have been corrupted by political pressure. In addition, it is not irrational for Black people to have hesitations about getting vaccinated, given a history of mistreatment by the medical and scientific communities. A prime example is the Tuskegee study, which began in 1932 and continued for 40 years. Black men were offered free medical care in exchange for their participation, but they were not told when they had syphilis or treated for it, even when penicillin became available in 1947. That injustice resulted not only in 128 deaths from syphilis or its complications, but transmission of the disease to at least 40 spouses and 19 unborn children. But the vaccines—from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson—have now been in use for several months. The side effects have been minimal, especially when compared to the danger of death and illness from Covid. The more serious side effects, like Johnson & Johnson’s rare blood clot occurrences, can be treated. Nevertheless, the various rational concerns expressed about taking the vaccines can and should be addressed. But this must be distinguished from the irrational conspiracy theories that have mushroomed on social media. The scientific community’s response seems unable to keep pace with the proliferation of mistruths. Some of the social media spread is probably the product of panicked thinking, but some of it appears to be a calculated manipulation of thought to create that panic. Extremist organizations are using the anti-vaccine movement According to a New York Times article in March, the Stop the Steal insurrectionist movement appears to be shifting its target from the Big Lie of election theft to big vaccination lies in order to undermine the Biden Administration. In April, Trump promoters Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell appeared along with anti-vax advocates at a conference dubbed “The Health and Freedom Conference 2021.” Flynn spoke for 30 minutes, claiming he was there “for the children,” and holding up a poster of a child with the words: “My mask caused a staph infection on my face 4 times; My Body, My choice; Unmask Iowa.” The Times also reported that attacks on the safety and effectiveness of Covid vaccines are turning up in right-wing chat rooms, including those of the ultra-right Proud Boys, the Boogaloo movement, and various paramilitary organizations. They are spreading the idea that the push to get people vaccinated is a part of governmental control. Dr. Simone Gold, an emergency room physician who has led in disseminating medical disinformation, advanced Trump’s promotion of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 despite the evidence that it was not effective and caused serious side effects. According to The Intercept, an investigative publication with a left-leaning perspective, on January 5, the day before the breach of the Capitol—in which Gold participated—she gave a speech, calling Covid vaccine “an experimental biological agent deceptively named a vaccine.” This, despite the fact Trump had taken credit for the vaccines’ development. What had changed? Trump was no longer in office. Gold also has initiated a petition to stop people from being forced to get vaccinated. Since no one is being forced to get vaccinated, the petition is a straw man created to instill fear of a government oppression that does not exist. Yet, The Intercept reported, as of January, more than 94,000 people had signed it. The psychology; why people fall into this cult-like thinking It is not hard to understand why there are people—political leaders, clergy, and others—who use conspiracy theories to gain money and power. But why do their followers fall for it? And how is it that those anti-vaxxers who trust natural remedies over manufactured drugs and distrust corporations and Big Pharma—who largely are to the left ideologically—have bought into the far right’s broader governmental conspiracy theories? In “How to Talk to Conspiracy Theorists,” published at Science. The Wire, Yoo Jung Kim, a recent graduate of the Stanford University School of Medicine and M.D. who worked in a safety net hospital in San Jose, California, has written, “conspiracy theorists…are afraid of their own powerlessness, and these theories offer them a semblance of control. Believing that COVID-19 was perpetuated by organizations with evil intentions…helps allay existential fears regarding the indifferent arbitrary universe we live in.” Kim further writes that “Conspiracy theories abound because they are easy to understand and fit neatly within their own twisted internal logic. The truth is often hopelessly complicated, but the best lies are simple and easy to believe.” Rolling Stone’s comprehensive article strongly supported Kim’s view. The article suggested that our current plague of conspiracy theories is based in fear caused by the pandemic, along with a 20-year-long decline of American trust in institutions. Ethan Zuckerman, former director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, explained what pulls people into conspiracy theory organizations: “It’s usually people who lost trust in one institution and then found a coherent worldview that says, ‘Don’t just mistrust this one institution—mistrust all the institutions. All of them are in it together.’ ” Eric Oliver, a political-science professor at the University of Chicago who has studied conspiracy theories since the 1990s, suggested that, in uncertain times, conspiracy belief helps people deal with general anxiety by allowing them to attach it to something concrete allegedly creating a chaotic world. He maintained that, to predict who will be drawn into conspiracy theories, look not at whether they are on the right or the left, ideologically, but whether they are more prone to intuitive thinking than to evidence-based thinking. Oliver submitted that evangelical or orthodox religious communities tend to rely more on intuitive thinking, but that New Age communities associated with the left ideologically do so as well. What is the solution? Public-health experts have not yet figured out how to ween people away from conspiracy theories. Giving people the facts, alone, doesn’t seem to break through because they refuse to believe the facts. And the still-large number of people buying into such theories (about 25 percent of Americans according to a Pew Research survey), endangers the ability to stop the pandemic. That in itself constitutes a public health crisis. Yoo Jung Kim proposed “healthy doses of active listening, empathy, patience, and respect.” She wrote that, as a physician, “when I encounter a Covid-19 conspiracy theorist, I … empathize with them, acknowledging that COVID-19 is horrifying and that we all want our loved ones to be safe. I tell them that I don’t trust the conclusions of some conspiracy videos on the internet and I offer to refer them to more trustworthy sources of information. Even if they don’t change their mind, they know that I take their concerns seriously.” Kim’s prescription shows great understanding and humanity, and might ultimately yield results one on one. The problem is, we need to reach and change Covid conspiracy thinking much faster than one by one if we are to ensure the public’s health on a nationwide scale. Calling Dr. Fauci! Jessie Seigel is a fiction writer, an associate editor at the Potomac Review, a reviewer for The Washington Independent Review of Books, and a dabbler in political cartoons at Daily Kos. She has twice received an Artist’s Fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for her work. But, Seigel also had a long career as a government attorney, in which she honed her analytic skills. Of this double career, Seigel would say, “I guess my right and left brains are well balanced.” More on and from Seigel can be found at The Adventurous Writer, https://www.jessieseigel.com.

By Naomi Serviss Where’d all my anger go? Yesterday I felt versus everything. I was Groucho Marx in Horse Feathers, singing, “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It.” Figuratively caged and socially isolated. Literally hobbled by foot surgery and quarantine. Virtually connected but unhugged by my kids. Fed up with a Debbie Downer relative. One who parrots Fox News, spews exaggerated Manhattan crime stats and objects to mask-wearing. Same one who Facebook-posted an ethnic slur. My hard-working (from home) husband bore the brunt of my surliness. His only escape was commuting to his corner office. Located in the corner of our living room. A foot away from the sofa. Some escape. Luckily for him I had a light-bulb moment foraging through the coat closet. There I found my underused purple yoga mat, three West Side Market paper bags and a stray Regal Crown sour cherry candy. Still good! I poked behind the neglected mat. And discovered an old sketch book lodged in back. A few pieces of discarded rice paper were in the corner. Flipping through the sketch book, I rediscovered abstract cats, color-saturated designs and seabirds. I think they were seabirds. The Japanese brush painting course I took 30 years ago came rushing back. I was a new mother on Long Island in need of an outside creative outlet. One that didn’t require singing another Raffi song. With a little bit of luck, I found one close by. A former elementary school-turned-adult-education community center offering novice art workshops. Sold! I spent the following eight Thursday afternoons not watching Sesame Street. It brought me great joy. I channeled roller-coaster emotions without glaring or fuming. I became calmer, if not a gifted artist. Worked for me then, why not in the aftermath of the pandemic? I knew my daily doldrums needed banishment or at least, modulation. My quick-to-anger fuse needed management. I optimistically ordered online rice paper, watercolors, paint brushes, markers, construction paper, scissors and black foam board. Unrolled the yoga mat on the living room floor and spread the bounty like an intoxicated pirate. I flashed back to third-grade art class. The recalled aroma of oilcloth-covered tables kick-started my endorphins. I squeezed a dozen watercolor tubes into an empty plastic egg carton. The orange Café du Monde coffee can from New Orleans had a second life as a supply repository. It held a generous assortment of paint brushes and spiffy new scissors. Rice paper was gently water-sprayed and crumpled for added texture. Bright primary colors filled damp pages. I dripped, splattered and brush-stroked away my rage. I spread out the thick-stock construction paper, then doodled and scribbled out anger. Cut and taped construction paper strips onto black foam boards. My shoulders relaxed. I stopped grinding my teeth at night. I broke for Central Park walks, meals and episodes of Schitt’s Creek and The Americans. Stayed away from Internet news and avoided conversations with Fox loving relations. My blood pressure came down. Next-door’s construction cacophony was less migraine-inducing. The living room floor was covered with surreally concocted creations. Foam board collages had been propped beneath the DVD player. We could frame and group them on remaining wall space! Or I could take pictures of them for posterity. And ditch them in the recycling bin. Mission accomplished. Naomi Serviss is a New York-based award-winning journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Highroads (AAA magazine), in-flight publications, spa and travel magazines and websites, including BroadwayWorld.com

By Bonnie Fishman We could use some nourishment for the soul about now, something we all have needed for the past year and will going forward. I’m not talking about food today. I’m referring to that deep, beautiful connection many of us have with our pets. Who doesn’t welcome the companionship, undying love, cuddle-up-on-the-couch warmth during a pandemic? Wonderful! Petfinders.com, one of the favorite go-to sites to find the dog of your dreams, has seen a surge of 79% over the past year. According to SimilarWeb.com, the internet searches are up to 20 million hits a month, a record high. Google Trends has also reported the increase of traffic to over 38% a month. But what if you want a rescue dog and can’t get one if your life depends upon it? I have rescued dogs from shelters for over 25 years. We wouldn’t have it any other way–until now. Have you tried to procure the puppy of your dreams lately? Have you spent hours and hours poring over adorable pictures of dogs on rescue sites? Have you filled out a zillion adoption applications, only to be turned away? Well, I have. I bet if you haven’t, you must know someone who has been through this frustration. Filling out these applications, you’d think you were adopting a human baby. One lady grilled me on the phone for an hour and a half about my ability to take care of a dog. Excuse me, lady, this isn’t my first rodeo! Of course, I was never really in the running because of age discrimination. Yes, that’s right. As if there weren’t enough discrimination going on in our society. There may be dozens of applicants for one dog. In the shelter personnel’s minds, are they going to give it to the retiree who may die before the puppy lives its full life? No, they award the pup to a young couple or family. No lie. I know of many people, contemporaries, who have been faced with the same problem. Sue from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., lost her beloved senior dog before the pandemic. She must have filled out at least six applications and made dozens of calls over a six-month period to rescue leagues in her area. She, too, was grilled by the interviewer. One rescue place “hinted” that she and her husband were too old. Hearing their ages, 70 and 72, there was that pause, and then “we really don’t want to have to re-home them if you, um, you know, die.” In the end, Sue and her husband bought a puppy, Mendel, from across the state. Carol, who lives in Manhattan, lost her dog companion almost a year ago. Devastated, as most of us pet owners are when our best buds pass on, took a six-month break before she tried to adopt another dog. She has always been a rescue-dog person, sometimes having two in her living in her home at the same time. She must have filled out 20 adoption applications and no one called her back. Carol was able to visit a dog shelter recently and to no surprise, most of the dogs available were pit bulls or pit-bull mixes. I have met lovely pits but many are aggressive and unpredictable, especially around young kids. As a matter of fact, even if Carol wanted one, her building, like many in Manhattan, forbids pit bulls. So far, she is still “dogless.” Marilyn and Barry from the San Francisco Bay area also searched and searched for a rescue, filling out applications to no avail. Barry was desperate for canine companionship. He went a different route after all of that frustration and time spent. He began calling breeders of small non-shedding dogs. Oddly, it was not to buy a puppy from their litters, but to actually buy a mother dog who would be retiring from having any more puppies. Bingo! It worked. After only a short time, they got lucky and adopted a lovely West Highland Terrier. Frosty is a well-behaved, already trained two-year-old. We retirees are great candidates for having dogs. When the world is back to normal (eventually, right?), the kids go back to school, the parents go back to work, that pup will be sitting Frosty : home alone in its crate. Or better yet, destroying the house because he was abandoned. But those of us who don’t work, hey, we’re still home with Fido, able to give the pup the attention he needs. Long walks? Of course. A little frisbee, why not? An hour at the dog park? Who doesn’t love that socialization for both man and beast? Many people I know have had to purchase pedigreed dogs and puppies during the pandemic. They are also difficult to find. As a recent article in the Washington Post confirmed, it’s a matter of supply and demand. During the pandemic, sales of puppies has gone through the roof. Aileen from California couldn’t find a black Labradoodle in the western states. She expanded her search and got Harper flown in from Indiana to California, to the tune of an $1,870 escort fee. The expense and lengths that people have gone through just to have a puppy! I get it, though. I, too, HAD to buy a puppy. My daughter hunted down an English Springer Spaniel breeder some 300 miles away. The breeder met us halfway at a seedy truck stop to hand over the goods, Chester, an eight-week old, 18-pound. bowling ball of a puppy. He clearly nosed out the rest of the litter when it came to feeding time. Chester is now six months old and has grown into a handsome, sweet guy. The guilt around buying a dog instead of rescuing one has waned. My son Ben was also a recipient of one of my daughter’s rescues. A reluctant recipient, I might add. she found the perfect puppy for their family. Lula, a Weimaraner-Doodle mix, had a “trial” weekend at Ben’s house. You know how that goes: who’s going to give back a puppy? With two pleading little boys, Lula was added to the pack along with their giant lab rescue, Sadie. There are those who take the animal rescuing to the nth degree. My daughter is one of them. She didn’t stop with finding dogs. At one point last summer, after doing weeks of in-depth research about African tortoises to ensure a successful rescue, she adopted Bert, a 40-year-old, 150-pound African Sulcata tortoise. That’s right, you heard me. He only lasted at her house a mere twelve hours. He wreaked havoc in her yard, eating any plant within reach and destroying everything that was in his path–chairs, planters, you name it. Bert had to go! It took the help of 4 neighbors to muscle him into her jeep. All was not lost. The next day, my daughter was given a rescue puppy, an 8-week old 12 ounce fox-faced Pomeranian, Juniper. Quite the contrast from Bert, wouldn’t you say?! Then there was Petunia, an abandoned baby possum, found in her neighborhood. My daughter kept her in a sock, like the mother’s pouch, and fed her berry applesauce and kitten formula from an eye dropper. Petunia is thriving to this day in a possum rescue home. Go figure! So the moral of this story: we do what we have to do to be comforted by the companionship of another mammal or two or three in our homes during these uncertain times. No judgment. Just love. We at the Insider welcome all photos of your pre-pandemic and pandemic pooches. Share your stories of where they came from and what they’re like by emailing them to editor@theinsider1.com. I couldn’t resist doing a recipe. This is a dog-breath mint biscotti from my close friends Liss and Steven of Marin County. They have always raised Australian Shepherds. Their children. Who doesn’t want a dog with fresh breath, especially if they sleep in your bed? Breath Mint Biscotti for Dogs Yield: About two dozen 2 c. whole wheat or brown rice flour 1 Tbs. activated charcoal powder 1 lg. egg 2/3 c. milk, whole or low-fat 1/2 c. chopped fresh mint 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley Preheat oven to 400°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and charcoal. In another bowl, scramble together the egg and milk. Pour liquid into the flour. Add the chopped herbs. Mix with your hands until the dough comes together. Flatten the dough on the cookie sheet into a patty until it is about 1” thick. Prick with a fork in rows so it doesn’t bubble up when baking. Bake for 20 minutes or so until it is set and begins to brown. When slightly cooled, cut the cookie into 1” pieces. Scatter on the baking sheet. Turn oven temperature down to 300°. Bake the chunks for another 10-15 minutes to dry out. Cool completely before storing in an airtight tin or freeze in ziplock bags and defrost as needed. Bonnie Fishman attended the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London. Later, she owned and operated Bonnie’s Patisserie in Southfield, Mich. and Bonnie’s Kitchen and Catering in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. She has taught cooking for over 35 years and created hundreds of recipes. She is now living in Northern California.

Opinion by Jeffrey D. Sachs | CNN.com May 7, 2021 Editor's Note: Jeffrey Sachs is a professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and president of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. His most recent book is "The Ages of Globalization" (Columbia University Press, 2020). The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author; view more opinion on CNN (CNN) - The April jobs report, released Friday and with slower-than-expected employment-growth gains, reminds us that America's jobs future still hangs in the balance. President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan, a first step to address this issue, calls for building infrastructure to modernize the economy -- paid for with higher taxes on companies and the rich. Yet, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is pledging "100% of his focus on stopping this new administration," rejecting any new taxes on the wealthy. We are at a moment of truth. America needs economic modernization to create good jobs and a safe environment, and the most effective way to pay for this modernization is to tax those who have benefited the most from the country's lax tax policies. Of course, raising taxes isn't the only mechanism to pay for new federal spending. Congress could cut military spending, especially as the Biden administration ends the war in Afghanistan, or clamp down on medical costs, including drug prices, which could reduce government health care outlays. Yet as crucial and promising as those cost-saving measures are, they are not enough. McConnell's record, alas, is clear: he will favor the wealthy over the needs of the country at large. In November 2017, McConnell brazenly abused the public trust by shoving through a huge and unaffordable tax cut for corporations over the strong opposition of the American public. McConnell used legislative trickery to pass the tax cut, withholding much of the GOP Senate plan until the final hours before a late night vote. His action was brazen, and the tax cut remained deeply unpopular years after, even as the legislative manipulation faded from memory. Why would McConnell and the Republican Party pass legislation when so many Americans opposed it? The answer is obvious: to serve the interests of corporate donors and the richest Americans who keep him and his colleagues in office. The McConnell-aligned SuperPAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, raised an astounding $446 million from corporations and rich individuals in the 2020 election, which it used to target Democratic opponents. Of those donors, about $120 million came from the finance industry and $37 from gambling and casinos. McConnell himself raised over $65 million from America's wealthiest companies and individuals in the last election cycle. So, here we go again. Biden wants to pay for new infrastructure to ensure that Americans have the renewable energy, advanced manufacturing capacity and 5G connectivity needed to ensure well-paying jobs in the future. He is proposing that the richest Americans and biggest companies pitch in this time -- and he is attempting to do so in a bipartisan manner. To secure broad support -- both from the American people and the two parties -- Biden is not seeking to undo all the 2017 corporate tax cuts. Instead, he is proposing to cut only half of them. Before 2017, the corporate statutory tax rate was 35%. McConnell's middle-of-the-night Senate vote slashed the statutory rate to 21%, and Biden is proposing to reset it at 28%. He is also proposing a minimum tax on corporations to stop them from abusing overseas tax havens. And he is proposing to crack down on massive tax cheating by revving up tax audits on the largest companies and richest taxpayers. Yet, McConnell and many of his Republican colleagues have flatly rejected any higher taxes whatsoever. In doing so, they have made clear they would rather that Americans do without a modern economy and decent jobs than have the biggest corporations forgo any of the 2017 tax-cut boondoggle. Even when Republicans proposed a laughably small spending package, roughly one-fourth the size of Biden's, they insisted that there would be no corporate or international tax increases to pay for it. The contest between Biden and McConnell comes down to a test of whether the American government is governed by a few wealthy, overwhelmingly White men, or by and for a diverse nation with great potential and pressing economic needs. McConnell is unlikely to budge, but Biden will continue to sell his package -- and he will do so knowing that a large majority of the American people support him. In an April Quinnipiac survey, 62% of respondents supported raising taxes on corporations (31% did not). Public support is even stronger for raising taxes on rich individuals earning more than $400,000 per year -- 64% in favor, 31% opposed. Not surprisingly, in the same Quinnipiac poll, only 27% said they approve of the way that the Republicans in Congress are handling their job. Since Republicans do not have public opinion on their side, they are increasingly betting their future on voter suppression laws at the state level and the use of the filibuster in the Senate at the national level to block any major legislation. So, where does this leave Americans? Public opinion alone cannot overcome McConnell's dark cynicism, but Biden can use the budget reconciliation process, which allows certain legislation, related to spending, taxes and debt, to pass with a simple majority -- thereby bypassing any threat of a filibuster. In today's Senate, that would mean a 50-50 party-line vote, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaking vote. While Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has so far held out for a bipartisan infrastructure bill with a slightly smaller corporate tax hike, Republicans' utter intransigence on raising corporate taxes -- as well as the huge boon of the jobs planned for the state of West Virginia under the bill -- will likely bring us to a party-line victory for Biden's popular legislation. In contrasting Biden's job plan and McConnell's unrelenting focus on defeating it, White House press secretary Jen Psaki put it best: "Well, I guess the contrast for people to consider is 100% of our focus is on delivering relief to the American people, on getting the pandemic under control, and putting people back to work, and we welcome and support engagement and work with the Republicans on that." https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/07/opinions/biden-gets-right-jobs-taxes-sachs/index.html

By Alan Resnick Part I: THE STREETS ARE ABOUT TO GET MORE CONGESTED As the number of vaccinated adults increases and as states reduce or eliminate their Covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings, more and more Americans either have or will soon be returning to the office. Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ended remote work for 80,000 municipal employees. And an April 5 article in The New York Times reported that the consulting firm PwC (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers) will be reopening one office in each of its major cities in May. No doubt the nation’s dry cleaners are ecstatic. There is less enthusiasm among workers, however. Citrix Systems, a Florida-based software company, recently published a survey of 7,250 employees across 12 countries on the topic of post-pandemic work schedules. Fifty-two percent of respondents indicated that they want a hybrid model where they can choose to work remotely or from the office each day. And 16% of those surveyed reported they have no interest in returning to the office and would prefer a permanently remote role. The reasons for people’s reluctance to return to the office on a full-time basis are varied and complex. Some are concerned about their personal health and safety. A February survey conducted by Wakefield Research of 1,000 adults employed part- or full-time found that a majority feared their employers would not adequately protect their health. And 62% of respondents wanted their companies to require workers to get vaccinated before allowing them back into the office. Other employees have enjoyed a greater work-life balance as a result of working remotely. The absence of commuting has left more time for family, chores around the house, exercise and even hobbies. And many working parents have needed to be home with school-age children whose schools have not reopened or have only done so partially. This situation may change dramatically now that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for use in children ages 12–15.. Then there are folks who simply prefer working at home to being in the office. There’s no need for makeup or a special wardrobe unless participating in a Zoom meeting. It’s often easier to focus and be productive, plus it allows for control over one’s work schedule. But there are also people who cannot wait to get back to their offices. Perhaps they’ve reached their limit on family togetherness. The distractions that frustrated them in the office have been replaced by distractions from noisy kids or barking dogs. Working while sitting cross-legged on a futon while trying to balance a laptop computer on your knees is not as comfortable as sitting in an ergonomically designed chair behind a desk. The distinction between home and family life may have blurred if not disappeared completely. And, of course, there is the isolation and loneliness that comes with not having been able to interact with peers, direct reports or clients on a face-to-face basis. Companies are of different mindsets with respect to the work schedules they plan to implement in the coming months. At one extreme are companies like Netflix, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. The CEOs of those three organizations have indicated that they want their employees to return to their offices as soon as is practically possible. In a March 15 article in The Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon stated, “I think there will be a large portion who permanently work in the office. There will be some hybrids, where you spend two days or two weeks at home and two weeks in the office. It will reduce the need for commercial real estate, but there are huge weaknesses to the Zoom world.” “I mean most of us learn by an apprenticeship system, by seeing mistakes, going [on] trips, how to handle a client, how do you handle the problem,” he continued. “It’s hard to inculcate culture and character and all those things. It’s very hard to build and develop a deeper relationship on Zoom.” At the other extreme are companies like Twitter. According to a March 19 Forbes article, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has informed his employees that they may work remotely “forever.” And Spotify has announced a “Work from Wherever” program that will allow employees to “work from wherever they do their best thinking and creating.” The Forbes article went on to state that: “The prevailing corporate consensus is consolidating around a flexible hybrid system, which has been championed by Google CEO Sundar Pichai. This entails offering employees an option or a combination of remote and in-office work.” One example is Ford Motor, which in March announced that 30,000 white-collar office workers can “continue to work from home and have flexible hours approved by their managers.” Kiersten Robinson, Ford’s Chief People and Employee Experiences Officer, expects that these workers will primarily come into the office for meetings and group projects. Part II: THE VIEW FROM MY HOME OFFICE Over the course of my career, I’ve experienced all three of these models. I began my professional life as an industrial psychologist in corporate human resources with a Fortune 250 manufacturer of medical and hospital supplies. It was a traditional office job and unless we were out on the road visiting one of our facilities, we were expected to be in the office each day, even if we had no meetings. It provided lots of interpersonal interaction, powerful feelings of teamwork and the ability to brainstorm and problem solve with others. But there were an awful lot of daily distractions and interruptions (“your door is open so you must not be busy”) and time wasted in needless and poorly run meetings. I then moved onto a consulting job with a small firm headquartered in Maryland. I ran the Chicago office. (In the spirit of total transparency, I was the Chicago office.) I flew to Maryland just a couple of times a year for staff meetings. Otherwise, my contact with the home office was via phone or email. The role provided me great autonomy and freedom. However, I never really felt part of the larger organization. Staff meetings were awkward for me. Projects were discussed that I knew nothing about, decisions had been made without any input from me, and I wasn’t able to participate in the inside jokes that went around the table. I truly felt like an outsider in my own company. For the last five years, I’ve worked part-time in a hybrid model. And it is absolutely perfect for me at this point in my life. I only go into the office when I have an assessment to conduct. All my scheduling, report writing, and billing is done from home. My contact with my supervisor is minimal and happens through email or telephone. I can’t say that I feel part of the department in which I work or for that matter a part of the larger organization, but that’s not important to me now after working professionally for 40 years. My priorities at this point are staying busy and having time for hobbies. My own experience with these three models of work leads me to conclude that younger workers who choose to limit their time in the office through either a hybrid or totally remote work schedule are placing themselves at a distinct career disadvantage. Younger employees need direction, guidance and mentoring, all of which are best done on a face-to-face basis. Working remotely makes developing professional and personal relationships with peers, bosses and clients very difficult. Simply stated, most people, if given the choice, would prefer to get up from their desk and pop into the adjoining office or work station to ask a question or request feedback rather than email, telephone or Zoom with a peer. Then there is the matter of organizational politics and the old adage “out of sight, out of mind.” Having worked in a large corporation for 15 years, I’ve seen the importance of “face time” and am a firm believer in Woody Allen’s famous quote of “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” The results from a study in the July, 2020 issue of the Harvard Business Review indicate that there are a large percentage of managers who believe that just because someone is physically at their desk, they are performing well. Thirty-eight percent of the managers surveyed felt that remote workers usually performed worse than their counterparts who work in the office. Similarly, 41% of the managers expressed skepticism over remote workers’ ability to stay motivated over the long term. I used to work with someone who told me she made it a point at least twice a week to be either the first one in the office or the last one out the door, in the hopes that our boss would notice. And he did, commenting occasionally to us nine-to-fivers, "Boy, Cindy really got here early this morning." I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who has witnessed such blatant attempts at suck-uppery. Part III: DUST OFF YOUR OLD ROUTINE Whether you are salivating at the prospect of heading back to your desk or dreading that email that will specify your return date to the office, you will not simply be walking in and picking up where you left off. And it’s going to take some time to adjust to how things have changed. At a minimum, you will likely have to adapt to new health and safety precautions such as having your temperature taken, wearing a mask, having greater space between desks, or adhering to markers on the floor indicating where to socially distance if there is a line at the coffee station. Here are some other things worth considering for when the big day comes: First, prepare in advance. Start getting ready for your return to the office at least a week in advance. If you’ve gotten to the point where you’ve given your snooze alarm a pet name, break up with that device gently and go back to your former sleep schedule. Get reacquainted with your dry cleaner. And you may want to try on your work duds and see if you need a tailor or a new wardrobe--an American Psychological Association poll conducted in late February of this year found that 61% of adults surveyed reported undesirable weight changes. Second, your social skills may be rusty. Social skills, like any other type of skill, atrophy when they are not used. The combination of working from home and ordering groceries, clothes and meals online has dramatically reduced the amount of time we have spent in face-to-face conversation, especially for people who live by themselves. Don’t be surprised or frustrated if it takes some time to get back into the rhythm and flow of office banter and asking questions of others. Third, pack your patience and flexibility. It’s very likely the health and safety protocols that you experience when you return to work will be modified over time. That doesn’t necessarily mean that your company doesn’t know what it’s doing, but rather that things are being adjusted based on new information. Fourth, cut others some slack. Try to remember that your peers, direct reports and boss all are in the process of managing their own transitions. They’re all going to need some empathy and understanding. Finally, cut yourself some slack. It’s okay and perfectly normal to be anxious. We’ve all been through a lot these last 15 months and it’s going to continue for a while longer. As you return to the new world of work, pay attention to how you are feeling and, most importantly, talk about it with other people. Chances are that your peers or boss are feeling the same way. And if opening up to someone in your department leaves you feeling queasy, talk with family, friends or a mental health professional. But let that anxiety out of the bottle. Good luck and don’t forget your Employee ID. Alan Resnick is an industrial psychologist with over 40 years of professional experience. He and his wife are sheltering at home in Farmington Hills, Michigan. He is passing the time by cooking, exercising, catching up on friends’ recommendations of must-see TV and writing.

By Jessie Seigel / Washington, D.C. Did you know that we, the 705,749 citizens of Washington D.C., pay among the highest federal taxes, but have no vote in the Senate or House of Representatives? That is classic taxation without representation. Did you know that D.C. is the only U.S. jurisdiction without the power to appoint its own judges? Our judges are appointed by the president. Did you know that Congress can override any legislation the D.C. government passes? And can block use of our District taxes for local purposes that they don’t like? That senators and congressmen from far-flung states, having no interest in D.C.’s local affairs, can inflict upon us laws that they are unable to pass for the nation as a whole. Did you know that D.C. has no control over the D.C. National Guard? You may already know this if you saw the January 6 insurrection against Congress and the D.C. National Guard’s failure to appear for hours. When requested, the D.C. police hurried to the Capitol, and about 140 of them were injured while helping to protect the same Congress in which we have no vote. D.C. has been fighting for full enfranchisement and power over its own affairs for decades. Since the House of Representatives just passed a D.C. statehood bill on April 22, and the Democratic-held Senate has introduced a similar one, it is possible that a little more lobbying and a bit of luck might finally win the day. The right to representation in Congress is a matter of fairness and equality that every American should care about. This should especially be understood now, when voting rights are under attack across the country. The Origins of D.C.’s Current Status: Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gave Congress the power “to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding 10 miles square) as may become the Seat of Government of the United States…” This language gave Congress sole authority over those living in the District of Columbia. Over the course of the 20th century, this denial of democracy has been, in fits and starts, alleviated somewhat. In 1961, the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving District residents the right to vote for president. In 1970, D.C. voters obtained the right to elect one non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives. (Though the current delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, has no vote, she does caucus with the Democrats and sits on some committees.) The District of Columbia Home Rule Act, passed in 1973, permitted D.C. citizens to elect a mayor and a city council that could pass laws. However, Congress retained the power to veto or alter D.C.’s laws, including how its budget—largely funded by D.C. taxes—is used. Once the District passes legislation, it must be sent to the House and Senate for review. Any member of those bodies can initiate a joint resolution to disapprove and thereby—with the President’s agreement—block those laws. Congress has used this obstructive power numerous times. In 1998, it not only banned the use of federal funds for needle exchange programs to reduce AIDS, but refused to let D.C. use city revenues for it. (The ban was lifted in 2007, but not before many D.C. residents died.) In 1998, Congress also prevented the use of funds to count ballots cast on a D.C. referendum to let critically ill patients use marijuana for medical purposes. Ultimately, the bar on counting the votes was overturned in the courts, but Congress continued to seek ways to block legalization of medical marijuana use. In addition, Congress has repeatedly stopped D.C. from using local tax dollars to fund abortion services for low-income residents, challenged D.C.’s efforts to control gun violence, and tried to block the District from implementing Obamacare. The Long Road to Full Enfranchisement: There are two possible paths to all-inclusive rights for D.C:. (1) amendment of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution to give D.C. two senators and a congressman without D.C. becoming a state; or (2) statehood. Amendment of Section 8 would have to be initiated by a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate, and ratified by three fourths of the states—a very tall order. To be admitted as a new state would only require Congressional approval. D.C’s first nonvoting delegate to the House, Walter Fauntroy, led an attempt at the Constitutional amendment route and, in 1978, D.C. got the needed two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. But the resolution for full representation in Congress was not ratified by the required three-fourths of the states. Since then, local citizens groups have continued working to get D.C. residents the full rights of citizenship. But, for many years, D.C.’s concern remained ignored or unknown in much of the country. Our plight finally caught the nation’s attention in June 2020 when the Trump Administration deployed the U.S. military and out-of-state troops to attack peaceful protesters and occupy District streets without any need for a governor’s approval. The need for D.C. statehood was further reinforced by our mayor’s lack of authority to call out the D.C. National Guard to defend the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection. In June 2020, the House passed H.R. 51 to grant D.C. statehood. Since the Senate was then-controlled by Republicans, the bill died there. However, this spring, the House has passed H.R. 51 again. And Democratic Delaware Senator Tom Carper has introduced S.51, the Senate version of the bill. The statehood bill proposes to restrict the federal district to a two-square mile area including federal buildings and monuments such as the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the White House, and federal executive, legislative and judicial office buildings located next to the Mall and the Capitol building. This area would remain as the capital of the nation under sole Congressional authority. The city’s residential and commercial areas, population approximately 700,000, would become the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, honoring abolitionist Frederick Douglass, allowing us to keep the “D.C.” abbreviation. Our mayor would become the governor; our city council would become the state legislature. In a statement on April 20, the Biden Administration formally backed statehood, saying it would provide Washington residents with “long overdue full representation in Congress.” It called upon Congress to provide for a swift and orderly transition to that statehood. The statement further declared, “This taxation without representation and denial of self-governance is an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded,” and that “Washington, D.C has a robust economy, a rich culture, and a diverse population of Americans from all walks of life who are entitled to full and equal participation in our democracy.” Republican Opposition: Republican objections to statehood run the gamut from the ridiculous to the purely cynical, mixed with legal arguments that hold no water. All of the objections veil a racist underbelly based on the fact that, until recently, the majority of D.C.’s citizens were black, and that, according to Mother Jones, the District “still has a higher percentage of Black residents than any state.” The most openly racist views have been expressed by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise from Louisiana. 

Cotton said last June that D.C. citizens are incapable of governing themselves responsibly and do not deserve a voice in Congress because they don’t comprise a “well-rounded working class.” The Intelligencer reported in April that Scalise circulated a memo relying on the decades-old shibboleth that D.C. suffers from crime, corruption, and a chronic deficit. As The Intelligencer points out, District crime is well below its 1990 levels, Scalise’s claim of corruption is based on former Mayor Marion Barry’s tenure over two decades ago, and D.C. has not only balanced its budget but accumulated a huge budget surplus in 2020—not that crime, corruption and an unbalanced budget has ever deprived any state, including Scalise’s Louisiana, of statehood. These arguments blatantly hark back to racist tropes that non-white populations are made up of criminals who lack the values or ability to govern themselves. At a March 22 House Oversight Committee hearing, Georgia Rep. Jody Hice argued that D.C. should not become a state because it would be the only state without an airport, a car dealership, or a landfill. Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman similarly argued that D.C. should not be a state because it is lacking in manufacturing, agriculture and mining, these allegedly being the industries that create wealth. This kind of argument implies that, as a state, D.C .could not sustain itself and would be a federal dependent. A month later, South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace claimed D.C. is too small to “even qualify as a singular congressional district.” Setting aside that D.C.’s population is larger than that of Wyoming or Vermont, that its taxes contribute more to the national economy than many states, and that it has car dealerships within its border, and three airports nearby, none of these ridiculous objections state anything that is a requirement for statehood. Equally ridiculous is the objection posed at the March House Oversight Committee hearing by Zack Smith of the right-wing Heritage Foundation, claiming that D.C. residents already have “undue influence over the federal government” because residents can place political yard signs lawmakers might see when they’re driving or walking around town. In April, speaking about the House vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called out these kinds of bigotry, saying, “Some of my colleagues on the other side, rather than fashion any argument on the merits, have taken to denigrating the base worth of residents of the District of Columbia.” Republicans are also calling the legislation a “Democratic power grab,” because the District vote would likely add two Democrats to the Senate. But as Democratic Virginia Rep. Gerry Conolly replied, “How somebody votes cannot be a test of whether they have the right to vote in a democracy.” Two years ago, Mitch McConnell said of the movement for D.C. statehood, “This is full-bore socialism on the march in the House.” And last July, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “This is about expanding the Senate map to accommodate the most radical agenda that I’ve ever seen since I’ve been up here.” Jesse Lovell, Secretary and Communications Officer of the DC Statehood Coalition, pointed out last week that, contrary to these Republican talking points, “Statehood is far from radical or a ‘power grab’ for the Democrats. Support for full representation for D.C. was a totally bipartisan issue for decades during the 20th century, and party platforms from the 1950s through the 1970s show that…nearly half of the Republicans serving in the House and Senate in 1978 voted to support the D.C. Voting Rights Amendment.” (This was not a statehood bill, but would have given D.C. the same House and Senate representation that statehood does.) The Republicans’ legal arguments are also anemic. They point out that the Constitution purposefully provided that the capital would not be within any state’s jurisdiction and so not at such state’s mercy. But that provision would not be violated since the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth would be removed from the capital. Rep. Scalise argued in April, prior to the House vote, that the bill violates the 23rd Amendment. But that amendment only provides the right to vote for president and vice president, and for three electoral votes in the Electoral College. In any event, the Senate’s statehood bill provides for its repeal. Where Do the Democrats Stand? Forty-five Democratic senators have cosponsored the statehood bill. Joe Manchin, a critical swing vote in the Senate, initially said he was open to the idea of D.C. statehood: “I don’t know enough about that yet. I want to see the pros and cons, so I’m waiting to see all the facts. I’m open up to see everything.” But last week, he announced, “If Congress wants to make D.C. a state, it should propose a constitutional amendment and let the people of America vote.” Delegate Norton responded sharply to Manchin’s argument, stating, “First, no new state was admitted by constitutional amendment. All 37 new states were admitted by Congress, and there has never been a successful constitutional challenge to the admission of a state. The Constitution commits admission decisions solely to Congress.” There are four other Democratic Senators who have yet to commit: New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen, Arizona’s Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, and Maine’s Angus King (an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats). These four have declared themselves undecided or are reviewing the bill. In my interview last week with Ann Hoffman, a lawyer and labor organizer with several different unions, and a 20-year volunteer in the cause of D.C. democracy, Hoffman said that the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO is working with the national AFL-CIO and state labor federations in Arizona, Maine, and West Virginia to encourage Kelly, Sinema, King, and Manchin to join the bill’s co-sponsors. Clearly, they will need to talk further with Manchin. Of course, even if all 50 Democrats agree to vote for D.C statehood, we will still need to overcome or eliminate a Republican filibuster—or get more Democrats who actually believe in democracy into the Senate in 2022. Despite the uncertainties in the Senate, Hoffman was optimistic about the bill’s chances: “We’ve never been this close. Things can always fall apart. But it’s never been talked about so much as it is now, on television and in newspapers all over the country… It seems impossible that we could get this far and not get it.” Last week, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton seemed to share this optimism. When interviewed on MSNBC after the House passed the statehood bill, Norton was beaming. Asked about the difficulty of getting statehood to pass in the Senate, her smile did not fade one bit. Norton said that at some point the Senate is going to have to get rid of the filibuster, and if they get rid of it for everything else, that will apply for the statehood legislation too. Norton also noted that the more we educate the public, the more people support it. If Joe Manchin cannot be cured of his mule-headedness on D.C. statehood and on the filibuster, it is unlikely that the Senate will be able to pass a statehood bill during this term. Nevertheless, there is reason for the optimism of Delegate Norton and grassroots citizen-activists like Hoffman. As they have noted, there never before has been this much national attention focused on D.C.’s plight. The District’s situation is now understood to be part of the national battle over voting rights and racial justice, not some separate matter. And considering that the House has passed statehood legislation both in 2020 and in 2021, if Democrats can obtain a larger majority in the Senate and retain their House majority in 2022, it should be a simple matter to reintroduce and pass legislation making D.C. our 51st state at long last. Jessie Seigel is a fiction writer, an associate editor at the Potomac Review, a reviewer for The Washington Independent Review of Books, and a dabbler in political cartoons at Daily Kos. She has twice received an Artist’s Fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for her work. But, Seigel also had a long career as a government attorney, in which she honed her analytic skills. Of this double career, Seigel would say, “I guess my right and left brains are well balanced.” More on and from Seigel can be found at The Adventurous Writer, https://www.jessieseigel.com.

By Merrill Lynn Hansen Cremation, Hollywood Style: John Goodman accidentally throws a friend's ashes on Jeff Bridges I was eight years old when I first heard of a dead body having been turned into ashes, but I had no idea how it was done. I overheard my parents and other relatives discussing why they thought a recently deceased distant cousin Sarah (not her real name) had been a "very nervous person." One of my relatives said, "Oh, she's been nervous since she was a little girl and accidentally knocked over the urn that had the ashes of her grandmother's lover in it. When her grandmother saw the ashes all over the rug and furniture, she became hysterical, started screaming at Sarah and never forgave her." When I heard this story, I was horrified. How was a person turned to ashes? I didn't dare ask anyone because clearly it was not intended that I hear what they were discussing, and the fact that the ashes belonged to the elderly woman's lover was far more interesting to them than how he had been reduced to ash and stored for safekeeping. Several years later, my mother had me accompany her to a memorial service for a cousin I'd met only a few times. Prior to the service, people were whispering, and while I couldn't hear what their whispers were about, there were more scornful faces than sad ones in the room. My mother whispered to me that my cousin had been cremated. "A shanda," she said. That’s Yiddish for something scandalously shameful. Mom was among the many there who couldn't believe that a "nice Jewish boy" (he was in his 40's) would have wanted to be cremated, and they decided among themselves that my cousin's wife, who wasn't Jewish, was responsible for this horrible sin. It’s worth noting, though, that since 2015, cremation has been America’s most popular form of disposal. Pandemic precautions and restrictions have boosted the rate to 56 percent of all send-offs. Personally, I have never really considered cremation an option. When I was battling cancer in 1998, and my prognosis was nothing short of horrible, my mother called me the night before I was going into the hospital for several weeks. "Guess what Daddy and I bought today?" she said. I immediately thought it must have been a rotisserie chicken or cans of tuna fish because my mother was always stopping by my house and dropping off food. But she cheerfully announced that she and my father had gone "shopping" with one of her sisters and her husband, and they had bought cemetery plots. Mom mentioned that she and my father bought two extra spaces — one for me and one for my then-husband, as if it was a "buy two, get two for free" sale. She then immediately told me that the purchases had nothing to do with my being ill. This was simply "something Daddy and I have always wanted to do." I knew right away that buying cemetery plots was not on my father's wish list because I heard him in the background yelling, "God dammit Ruthie, I told you not to tell her! Now she's going to be scared!" (I was.) My father and uncle have since passed away and I've been to the cemetery many times. Every time I'm there, I notice people standing on my plot while they look at the cemetery map to see where their loved ones are buried. "Milton is right around here. I think he's near that tree." It is a very eerie feeling. But who knows where I’ll end up if I don’t end up six feet under? I recently read that Truman Capote's ashes were sold at an auction for $45,000 after the dear friend he’d willed his remains to died. I have no idea what the going rate is for an iconic author's ashes, but $45,000 seems rather cheap to me, considering that a lock of Marilyn Monroe's hair sold for $70,000. The ashes of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker are buried on the moon. The ashes of Keith Richards’ father are buried in his famous son’s nose. (The Rolling Stones guitarist, an unabashed drug enthusiast, admitted snorting them during a cocaine binge.) “He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow,” Richards told New Musical Express in 2007. “My dad wouldn't have cared, he didn't give a shit. It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive.” Ben Stiller manages to destroy a family urn while dining with his new girlfriend's parents Never one to be conventional, Hunter S. Thompson's ashes were left with actor Johnny Depp, who spent $3 million dollars shooting them out of a cannon as part of a fireworks display. While not everyone can have a big bang send off like Hunter Thompson’s, I never realized that there are worse ash mishaps than being left in a stranger's file drawer for years the way author Dorothy Parker was. For example, the U.S Postal Service is your only choice to ship cremations, and it promotes its service in a video that says, "Trust the USPS." But if you think it's stressful waiting for a loved one's letter that is lost en route, that's nothing compared to when your loved one is lost in the mail. I read one woman’s lament about waiting weeks for the Postal Service to locate the package of her father's remains. When it finally arrived, the box was cracked, the bubble wrap was popped, and the container was broken. Her Papa's ashes spilled out onto her granite countertop and all over her hands. She later learned that the package had been run over and dragged at the airport by the transfer trailer. Honestly, if I were to consider cremation I'd much prefer that I be in someone's carry-on luggage. I also read the story of a woman who’d received an urn with her father's ashes and kept it on her fireplace mantle. One day, ten years later, she picked up the urn and as she was looking at the bottom of it, she realized that the name there was not her father's. She had a stranger’s ashes. I have to admit that my first reaction was one of horror — not because the ashes weren’t her father’s but because the woman obviously hadn't picked up the urn and dusted her fireplace mantle in ten years. I dust every week! I have read stories that had happy endings, although I was a bit baffled by one: The ashes of a grandfather had blown away in a hurricane, but four months later "he" was miraculously found in another city, still in the original bag that had been given to his family hours before their home was completely leveled. How could that happen? I’ve searched everywhere in my car for the last two years trying to find the bag of sugar-free candy that fell off my front seat when I had to make a sudden stop. That bag is still missing. Yet, a bag of someone's ashes were blown away in a hurricane and later found miles away? But the story that really upset me was about a cremation service employee who accidentally went up in smoke while napping on a stretcher after working 16 hours straight. Supposedly, another employee mistook him for a corpse, took him into the crematory, turned the heat up to between 1400 and 1800 degrees, "and no one noticed the mistake until coworkers heard [the unfortunate slumbering gentleman] scream for about 15 seconds." By then, it was too late to correct it. (Ya think?) An embarrassing ashes moment at the Oscars, thanks to Sacha Baron Cohen I later read that the story may have been a hoax, but I swear I've been hearing that man screaming in my head for weeks. Prior to my pursuit of information about cremation, I had no idea how many creative ways there are for people to commemorate their loved ones by using their cremains. After reading that tattoo ink can be made with human ashes, I will never again be able to look at someone with a tattoo that says "MOM" without wondering if that tattoo really is Mom. I also read that ashes can be mixed with paint to create a portrait of a deceased loved one. That would make an interesting subject for a conversation. "That's a beautiful portrait of your husband. He looks so lifelike." "Thank you. All he needed was to be mixed with a little firehouse red." I also came across an advertisement and learned that "the ashes of your loved one can be integrated into a unique handcrafted glass memorial." The selling feature was that a glass blower only needs less than a teaspoon of cremains; just enough ashes "to maintain the integrity of each piece." Reading about a designer who creates dinnerware, coffee mugs, and other ceramic pieces "glazed with the cremated ashes of dead loved ones" made me queasy. I realize that some people might think that eating off a plate or drinking from a coffee cup glazed with a loved one will infuse their memory into everyday life, but I will no longer eat a meal at the home of anyone who has custom-made dinnerware. "Oh, your plates are beautiful! Who are they?" At some point, the list of things that could be made from cremation ashes started to read like a Martha Stewart book of centerpieces you can create for every holiday , until I read about businesses that can turn half a cup of cremains into stunning and elegant diamonds by a process that mimics how the earth creates natural gems. The photographs that accompanied the ads were beautiful. I immediately thought about my ex-husband, who during our years of marriage was never one to spoil me with jewelry. While I hadn't previously wished him any harm, had I known that his ashes could be turned into diamonds ,I would have negotiated during our divorce for half a cup of his "future" remains in the hope he’d someday become the beautiful diamond ring and pendant I always wanted. But it is the practical advice that spoiled the illusion I had of a beautiful and serene scattering of a beloved one's ashes upon a favorite lake or the ocean. Hopefully, no one will ask me to take part in that ritual, as loving and beautiful as it may be, because I have no idea how to tell what direction "upwind" is and will probably be the one the ashes blow back on, sticking to my hair, eyes, skin and lipstick. (I always wear lipstick.) I am not even going to consider talking to my son and daughter about the prospect of cremation and whether they would want to keep my ashes near and dear to them. Surely they would tease me unmercifully, although lovingly. "Oh, thank you, Mom, but I think it would be nice if Ken had your ashes. You've always loved New York, and I can be with you whenever I visit Ken." "Oh, thank you, Mom, but i think Shayna should have your ashes. Any urn she picks out will look beautiful by her fireplace, especially since her decor is so eclectic." However, I do think I'll keep the cemetery plot my parents bought me — just so I won't wind up being sold at a garage sale. Merrill Hansen is a legal assistant, living in West Bloomfield, Michigan. She describes herself as a frustrated writer, who wishes she could be Nora Ephron (when she was alive), if only for a day. She is a news-, political- and FB-junkie, a combination that requires a constant reminder that she needs to take deep cleansing breaths when responding to people who don't agree with her.

By Bonnie Fishman When one is stressed, anxious, sad, lost at sea or depressed, especially during a pandemic, who doesn’t want or need his or her mother? We may actually be able to gather this weekend to celebrate our moms, while last year, we were in isolation. For those of us fortunate enough to have one, this is the Mother’s Day to really embrace them. Be grateful. Be generous. Be forgiving. Be loving. Be available. You are so very fortunate to have that unconditional love radiating from your mother. I’m not that lucky. My mom--Boots or Bootsie, as her close friends called her--left us 50 years ago this Mother’s Day. I was only 18. My sisters were 19, 20, and 15. Four girls in six years. We were a houseful of female energy (we had three female dogs, too). Poor Dad. He stood alone! Our mother raised us to be fiercely independent because she knew that the cancer she had had since she was 31 years old was going to take her before some of us were fully evolved as adults. She passed at 47. Mom treated each of us as if we were the most important person in the world at that moment. As a result, we sisters have never fought, never been jealous of each other, and always supported each other during difficult and joyous times. We’re best friends. Hey, we now live together in the Fishman Family Compound in the San Francisco Bay Area, all of us migrating from Michigan. How did Mom do it? I wish she had been around when I raised my children so I could have gotten sage advice from her. But that was not to be. Not only was Boots strong, positive and resilient, especially during the painful final four years of her life, she was also a jack-of-all-trades and a master of all. She cooked and baked like nobody’s business. That’s how I got my start, by emulating her kitchen acumen. Boots sewed every bedspread, curtain and drape in our house. She made most of our clothes when we were young, and all of our prom dresses. When my sister Nancy got married, my mom made the bridesmaids’ gowns and her own dress.. Did I mention that the woman could crochet at the speed of light? Boots made afghans for each of her friends before she died. Mom even built a city out of wood in our basement, hammering in the nails like a true contractor. We had a fully functioning soda fountain, my dad’s office and an 8’ x 8’ playhouse with working windows and flower boxes. Pull-eeze. How did she do it? I’ll never know. The attributes that I most admired about my Mom were her integrity, kindness and generosity. If someone showed up at dinner time, she set an extra plate or two. On Thanksgiving weekend during my freshmen year at the University of Michigan, she invited all of our out-of-town friends who had no place to go for the holiday. Keep in mind, she could barely stand at this point because she was only six months away from dying. But they were all welcome. I have learned so many lessons from my mom. I would not have been an entrepreneur or professional cook if it weren’t for her beautiful example. Here are the two key phrases that I live by: “Don’t take no for an answer” and “Don’t take sh*t from anyone.” I have passed these tenets on to my kids and they have flourished because of them. Perseverance, confidence, bravery, the can-do spirit... isn’t this a lesson for all of us, especially during a long period of fear and isolation? Embrace your moms. Embrace your children. If not now, when? Since many people are vaccinated, they are finally able to visit their moms and give them a long, satisfying hug. Maybe a Mother’s Day brunch or dinner will be scheduled. Make it a very special one. Go the distance. In that spirit, I’m offering a delicious recipe that takes a lot of effort. I hesitate to call it work, because it’s a labor of love. I invented the Treasure Chest Tart more than 35 years ago and it includes all of my favorite dessert flavors in one package: nut pastry, peanut butter, bananas and vanilla pastry cream, all enrobed in chocolate glaze. What mom wouldn’t love that, right? What’s great about this recipe is that you can pull out the different elements and use them in many other desserts. The almond crust can be the base for any type of fruit flan. The vanilla pastry cream is featured in flans, cake layers, eclairs, and so on. The chocolate glaze? Don’t ask. You can coat cakes, dip strawberries, pour over ice cream, glaze brownies--I could go on and on. Feel free to experiment and kindly share your ideas with The Insider. Have a wonderful Mother’s Day! Feel the love and joy. Even if your mom is no longer on earth, she is in your heart. Treasure Chest Tart Yield: 8-10 Almond Tart Dough: 4 oz. butter or margarine, room temperature 1/4 c. sugar 2 lg. egg yolks 1 c. flour 1 c. ground almonds Filling: 3/4 c. crunchy peanut butter 3/4 c. vanilla pastry cream (see below) 1 ripe firm banana Chocolate Glaze: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate 1/4 c.+ 2 Tbs. heavy cream Garnish: whipped cream
banana slices dipped in ground almonds Pastry Cream: 2/3 c. whole milk 2 lg. egg yolks scant 1/4 c. sugar 1 1/2 Tbs. flour 1/4 tsp. vanilla Almond Dough: Cream together the butter and sugar until well blended. Beat in egg yolks. Blend in flour and almonds. Work dough with hands until it comes together. Spray a 8-9” removable bottom tart pan with pan release. Press dough evenly into pan and up the sides, creating a right angle where the sides meet the bottom. Level off the top of the rim. Prick bottom with a fork. Refrigerate or freeze for at least 2 hours. While the dough is chilling, make the pastry cream using the recipe below. Bake tart shell blind in a 350° oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before removing from pan and assembly. Assembly: Spread the peanut butter on the bottom of the tart. Spread pastry cream on top of the peanut butter. You will have left-over cream for another use. Slice the bananas into 1/4” rounds. Arrange the bananas on top of the cream, fitting them close together. Chocolate Glaze: Put the chocolate and cream in a small stainless bowl. Place the bowl on top of a saucepan with 1” of simmering water at the bottom. Whisk the mixture until it is melted. While warm, coat the tart evenly, leaving the tart shell bare. Refrigerate tart for at least one hour to set. Finish: Apply 6-8 whipped cream rosettes around the outer edge of the glazed tart, about 1” in from the crust. Dip banana slices in ground almonds. Place bananas, almond-side up, in each rosette. Keep refrigerated. Take out to room temperature 1 hour before serving. Pastry cream: In a small heavy-bottom stainless saucepan, scald the milk. Whisk the yolks and sugar until lightened. Slowly whisk in the flour. Temper the yolks with the hot milk, slowly adding a bit of milk at a time, whisking constantly until all the milk is incorporated. Pour back into the pot. Bring the cream to a boil, turn down to a light boil, cook 3 minutes, whisking constantly. The mixture should be nicely thickened. Whisk in the vanilla. Pour into a bowl. Cover with cling film, laying onto the surface so no skin develops. Chill completely. Bonnie Fishman attended the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London. Later, she owned and operated Bonnie’s Patisserie in Southfield, Mich. and Bonnie’s Kitchen and Catering in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. She has taught cooking for over 35 years and created hundreds of recipes. She is now living in Northern California.