Fred Plotkin, a pleasure activist and passionate Italy and culinary expert, speaks each Friday with leading people in the arts 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 Jessie Seigel / Washington, D.C. Two weeks ago, on Feb.14, Nikki Haley—former South Carolina Republican governor and United Nations ambassador under President Trump—announced her own 2024 run for president on Twitter. The next day, at her campaign launch event in Charleston, S.C., she called for mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old. This was clearly a swipe at the 76-year-old Trump, who has declared his own 2024 candidacy and, of course, 80-year-old President Biden. She taunted, “America is not past our prime. It’s just that our politicians are past theirs." CNN host Don Lemon reacted to her statement, saying: “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s, and maybe 40s.” (Haley is 51.) Haley responded on Twitter: "To be clear, I am NOT calling for competency tests for Sexist middle-aged CNN anchors." Lemon apologized under pressure almost a week later, calling his statement “inartful and irrelevant.” I agree that Lemon’s statement was inartfully expressed. What he should have said is “Who are you, Nikki Haley, to decide who is past their prime? There are some who would say that you are past your prime.” And he should have added that her call for a mandatory test is the height of ageism. The ageist Nikki Haley calling Lemon out for being sexist amounts to the pot calling the kettle metal. Problematic politicians come in all ages. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, is only 48 years old; Lauren Boebert is 36. What is important in choosing a leader is not age, gender, race or ethnicity, but what the candidate stands for. And though Nikki Haley presents like a moderate, likeable, suburban-mom type, that persona is a mask, hiding the fact she is an opportunist who has, on policy, largely cast her lot with extremists—when she’s not changing her stated positions to fit momentary shifts of political winds. Nikki Haley’s True Colors At her first South Carolina campaign event on Feb. 15, Haley invited the infamous right-wing evangelical pastor John Hagee—he of the anti-Semitic and homophobic statements—to give the invocation. According to The New Yorker, Haley declared, when she came to the podium: “To Pastor Hagee, I still say I want to be you when I grow up.” At the same event, she also told South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, who wanted Trump to declare martial law to stay in power and who voted against certifying the election: “You know I would have been right there with you in Congress, holding them accountable.” The next day, at her first primary campaign stop at an Exeter, New Hampshire town hall on Feb. 16, Haley chose to be introduced by election denier Don Bolduc, a retired general. None of this should be surprising. As far back as 2011, Haley became governor of South Carolina by running as a Tea Party candidate. Despite her sensible suburban-mom demeanor, she continues to promote policies in line with Trumpian MAGA extremism. According to The New Yorker, Nikki Haley has said that if she becomes president, “voter ID will be the law of the land.” Her support for strict ID laws goes as far back as her time as governor, during which she also opposed refugee resettlement, and signed a law banning abortions after 20 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. And last November, while campaigning for Herschel Walker in Georgia, she called for the deportation of his opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock, a Black citizen born in the United States. The New York Times’ Michelle Goldberg recently opined concerning Haley: “She’s such a hollow figure that it’s impossible to say what her vision is.” In a 2021 POLITICO article, Tim Alberta pegged Haley as having “an absence of core beliefs.” These descriptions are apt. Haley changes her stated views according to what appears politically expedient for her in the moment. Six days after the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, in an interview conducted by POLITICO (but not published until Feb. 12), Haley said, “We need to acknowledge [Trump] let us down. He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again." But less than two weeks later, in a Jan. 25, 2021 interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Haley said she would vote against Trump’s impeachment, declaring: “They beat him up before he got into office. They are beating him up after he leaves office. At some point, give the man a break and move on.” Likewise, Haley denounced Trump’s Muslim ban when he proposed it as a candidate in 2015. But when, as president, Trump issued an executive order prohibiting entry into the U.S. to people from a number of Muslim countries, Haley had no qualms about defending his order. She simply employed some sophistry, claiming that the ban was not a Muslim ban. Some may be tempted to give Haley credit for removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House after white supremacist Dylan Roof murdered nine Black people at Bible study in Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. But before the murders, Haley adamantly supported flying the Confederate flag on statehouse grounds. And in the years afterwards, she promoted the claim that the Confederate flag represented to some “service and sacrifice and heritage.” She maintained that Dylan Roof had hijacked the flag’s meaning. This is, of course, baloney, and Haley has to know that. For if the Confederate flag represents service, sacrifice and heritage, it is service to the so-called twisted ideal of a slave society, the sacrifice of supporting secession from the United States, and a monstrous heritage in which white people enslaved and owned other human beings. If that is not a definition of white supremacy, I don’t know what is. Furthermore, as Daily Beast contributor Wajahat Ali told MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan on Jan. 20, Haley “uses her Brown skin to launder white supremacist talking points.” This appears to be accurate, if blunt. Haley is simultaneously courting white supremacist agendas and attempting to capitalize on being the daughter of Indian immigrants. In her video campaign announcement, Haley referenced how she felt “different” growing up in Bamberg, South Carolina. She spoke of the difficulty of being considered neither white nor black in a town divided by race—but also being reminded by her parents “how blessed we were to live in America.” However, Haley’s parents came to the U.S. with advantages other immigrants often don’t have upon arrival. Her father already had a master’s degree in biology and became a teacher at Voorhees College in South Carolina. Her mother who came from a wealthy Indian family and had a law degree, was able to begin in South Carolina teaching sixth grade social studies, and later opened a gift shop which became a million-dollar fashion boutique. Perhaps, being “neither white nor black” gave Haley’s family room to maneuver without being segregated in the same way as others were. In any event, whatever discrimination she experienced should have given her some empathy for the obstacles Black people face. Instead, Haley has used her own good fortune to deny that racism exists. She has audaciously claimed: "Take it from me, the first minority female governor in history, America is not a racist country.” Haley has deviated from one MAGA position. Possibly because of her experience as a U.N. ambassador, Haley appears to recognize that the Ukraine-Russia conflict is not simply about Ukraine but is a war on the freedom of all nations. She has declared, “If [Russia loses], it tells every dictator and enemy of the West, ‘Don’t mess with us.’” Will the Public See Through Nikki Haley? The New York Times recently published an article in which its columnists weighed in on Nikki Haley’s chances of winning the Republican presidential candidacy. The common wisdom expressed by most of those Times journalists seemed to be that her candidacy cannot be “taken seriously.” Some argued that Haley is not sufficiently virulent to attract the raging Trump contingent she would need to support her. Probably based on her style, they categorized her as a moderate and claimed that, in the current political atmosphere, her moderation will prevent her from getting the presidential nomination. Because they didn’t consider her a serious contender, they spent their print on handicapping the political horserace rather than throwing light on Haley’s views and agendas—which are not moderate. However, a few of the Times journalists saw through her persona, recognizing that Haley may be a force to be reckoned with. Bret Stephens wrote: “It’s said of Ron DeSantis that the closer you get to him, the less you like him. Haley is the opposite. Nobody should underestimate her appeal.” In addition, Aaron Blake recently wrote in the Washington Post: “Haley’s gift is to come across as a moderate while espousing immoderate views and surrounding herself with extremists.” The majority of the media would do better to stop reducing their coverage of Haley’s candidacy to the horse race. Because if the extremist agenda hidden beneath Haley’s butter-wouldn’t-melt-her mouth facade is not exposed, she may be able to fool moderate Republicans and independents who are sick of Trumpism into voting for her. That is the danger of Nikki Haley. Political columnist Jessie Seigel had a long career as a government attorney in which she honed her analytic skills. She has also twice received an Artist’s Fellowship from the Washington, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities for her fiction, and has been a finalist for a number of literary awards. In addition, Seigel is 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. Of this balance in her work between the analytic and the imaginative, Seigel jokes, “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 Andy Borowitz February 27, 2023 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Representative George Santos hastily removed an entry from his résumé indicating that he had worked at a biological laboratory in Wuhan, China, the congressman’s office has confirmed. The entry, which said that Santos worked at the lab in late 2019, disappeared with no explanation in the early hours of Monday morning. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Santos said that he had “no idea” how the Wuhan job wound up on his C.V. “I haven’t even spent time in China since 2007, when I invented the iPhone,” 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 Bonnie Fishman / San Francisco Bay Area In preparation for a minor medical test that I took recently, I was required to fast. I was looking forward to it as two-plus days out of my life when I wouldn’t obsess about food: What am I going to eat? What am I going to cook? What interesting combinations of ingredients can I put together? At which store and when will I procure said ingredients? Let’s face it, most of my time is spent thinking about food. I’ve been this way my whole adult life. It’s no wonder that I spent my career in the food business and owned two gourmet food shops. I was always happily surrounded by food. Have an itch for a nosh? No problem, food at my fingertips. And what a selection of snacks it was! Cookies, brownies, muffins, prepared salads, paninis, fruits, vegetables, and so on. I was a kid like in candy store, but I was in a bakery! My own kids enjoyed their visits to my shops too. They would take spoons into the walk-in cooler and scoop away at chocolate ganache, cream cheese icing, and vanilla pastry cream. Let’s not forget the raw cookie dough. I wonder if they realized at the time how lucky they were. But is it normal to ruminate about food most of any given day? I suppose that if one considers it like what an artist or musician does with their time, it makes it okay. It’s my craft, my persona, it’s who I am. I am what I eat, for God’s sake! I got to wondering whether I was the exception to the rule or whether many of us foodies think about food and recipes all day long. I asked my good friend, Rick Halberg, a renowned retired chef from Detroit. He said “Not 24/7…maybe just waking hours. I think about hospitality at least as much as actual food. The gift of feeding people and all that it entails, whether in a restaurant or in our home.” That pretty much sums it up for me. I, too, ponder how I will serve things and on what platters and dishes. I invite people over so I can cook and serve. Don’t you wish you lived near me?! I have always enjoyed waiting on people. Serving food is the ultimate gratification because who doesn’t enjoy eating, especially when someone else is doing the cooking and cleaning up afterwards? Even when I’m a guest in someone else’s home, I can’t help but to pop up and begin to clear the dishes. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. If I’m being honest, it’s not just thoughts about cooking and making up recipes. Most of those ideas are pondered while I’m swimming laps or driving. Now that I write this column, I have even more to contemplate about what my next story will be. If I write about a specific ingredient, like last week’s cabbage article, I roll around some possible recipes I can do with that item. But I confess, I spend way too much time thinking about what I’m going to eat next. Do any of you out there have these musings? So back to my two-and-a half-day fast. I spent an inordinate amount of time lingering in bed so the hours of the day didn’t stretch out endlessly in front of me. I enjoyed a strong cup of coffee, and everything seemed normal. But when I went for the second cup, I wanted to reach for my usual mini blueberry muffin. Nope, not gonna happen. I couldn’t go swimming because I am unable to do laps on an empty stomach. No food, no swimming. I toughed it out the first day, feeling a bit liberated from not thinking about what I was going to eat next. A bowl of lemon jello, not a culinary highlight, would have to quell those thoughts! By the second day, being halfway through the fast, I was doing fine physically and mentally. I didn’t crave eating. Things got easier. By day three, 64 hours in, I could again focus on what to eat next and break my fast with. A go-to favorite after Yom Kippur is noodle kugel. I’ll make that! Noodle kugel is a sweetened pudding, often with raisins and cinnamon. I have served this to people who have had no prior knowledge of it and they’re just not sure about the idea of sweet noodles. Their reaction to the dish is fun to watch. When I make my kugel, I line the bottom of the casserole with sliced apples for a little surprise. I also substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream to lighten it up a bit. The amount of sugar can vary, depending on your sweet tolerance. I should add that my fast was a First World issue. I have enough to eat, I’m not food insecure like millions of people in this country and around the world. I am most fortunate and do not take this for granted. Tell us here at The Insider if you have all-consuming thoughts about food and if and when you fast, what do you like to dig into when it’s time to eat! Noodle Kugel Yield: 6-8 servings 1/2 lb. wide egg noodles 3 lg. eggs 1/3 c. sugar 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 lb. small curd cottage cheese 1/2 lb. sour cream or 2% plain Greek yogurt 1/2 c. raisins 1 lg. tart apple, peeled & sliced thin Boil the noodles in salted water until just tender. Drain. Rinse under cold water and drain very well. Reserve. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Blend in the cottage cheese and sour cream. Fold in the noodles and raisins. Spray a 1 1/2 - 2 qt. shallow casserole with pan release. Arrange the apple slices on the bottom of the dish. Pour on the noodle mixture, smoothing the top. Bake, uncovered, in a 350° oven until set, about 40 minutes. If it begins to brown too quickly, cover with foil. Serve hot or at room temperature. 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.

By Judi Markowitz Purim over the years in the author's family You might be inclined to mistake the Jewish holiday of Purim with Halloween. It’s true–candy is a front runner on Purim, too. Gift baskets will be exchanged. parties held, donations to the needy made, and meals with friends and families enjoyed to mark the merriment of this special day. But this holiday, which comes next Monday, March 6 (the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar) has its own ancient legacy and lore. I have my own non-journalistic reasons for waiting eagerly for Purim (POOR-im). I am anxious to see the costumes that my grandchildren will be wearing. My daughter-in-law, Chana Tova, always comes up with creative ideas for their family of nine, which is no easy feat. Purim is associated with the miraculous turnaround and salvation of the Jewish people with a major disaster averted. The story began in ancient Persia in the fourth century B.C.E. With the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem 65 years prior, Jews were the subjects of the mighty Persian empire and antisemitism was prevalent. There are four main characters in this cinematic saga: Esther, Mordechai, King Ahasuerus, and Haman. To simplify a long story, there is a king, Ahasuerus, who threw a decadent party for 180 days, in order to celebrate the continued exile of the Jews and to entice them to sin further. While drunk, the king ordered his wife to be executed because she disobeyed a direct request. After a few lonely months, the king wanted to marry again. So the hunt began. A beauty pageant was orchestrated and the girl who sparked interest in the king’s eyes would become the new queen. This beauty was Esther who hid her Jewish identity from her new husband. Esther’s uncle was Mordechai, the leader of the Jews. He overheard a plot to assassinate King Ahasuerus. He reported this information to the monarch, the traitors were hanged, and Mordechai’s good deed was recorded in the King’s chronicles. Then wicked Haman was promoted to the position of prime minister. He was a well-known Jew hater. Haman issued a proclamation that when he appeared in public, everyone had to bow down to him. Mordechai refused. Haman became infuriated and wanted to take revenge against all the Jews. Haman struck a deal with King Ahasuerus. He offered him 10,000 silver talents for permission to kill all Jewish men, women, and children. The king acquiesced, but told Haman to keep the money since he did not like the Jews either. Proclamations to carry out the deed were posted throughout the country. Esther had to intercede. In a nutshell, at yet another wine feast, Esther reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is the enemy of her nation. She pleads for the lives of her people, the king relents, hangs Haman on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordechai, and Mordechai is appointed second to the king in place of the wicked Haman. The Jews then fought their enemies with valor and were victorious. When my children were younger, we would go to Temple for Purim festivals. There were games, contests, prizes and tempting food to be devoured. Our family would also attend services to hear the reading of the Megillah—the Book of Esther. Since Haman was the bad guy, each time his name was mentioned, the crowd of worshippers would yell, “Boo Haman” and stomp their feet. Noisemakers, called groggers, would also be used to show disdain with each mention of Haman’s name. These delightful toys would be brought home and the racket continued for days —until finally they fell apart or were discarded. Costumes are an integral part of Purim. My grandchildren and their parents always have coordinated outfits for the day’s festivities. Years ago, the primary get-up would be a look-alike with Esther, Haman, Mordechai or King Ahasuerus. But like everything else, costumes have become more sophisticated, and change is prevalent. Now most Jewish families, regardless of their Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform affiliation, wear secular costumes. My son’s family members have dressed like characters from a few of the Dr. Suess books, scuba divers with gear and even emojis. This Purim, they are planning on wearing army outfits—every year it’s a surprise. And what is a party without adult refreshments? It’s a big drinking day for the Jewish community as they commemorate the miraculous events that occurred at the wine feasts of the Purim story. According to tradition, drinking alcohol is intended to blur the lines until you can’t distinguish between the wicked Haman and Mordechai, the noble one. The lesson here is that one can’t tell which is a bigger miracle: that Haman’s evil plot was turned on his own head or that Mordechai and the Jewish people were elevated to a stature of greatness. The goal of drinking is to praise God out of a state of joy for these two miracles. Most Purim meals center around family, friends, and recounting the events of Esther’s story and how she saved her people from slaughter. My daughter-in-law is a wonderful cook and never fails to delight her guests. Her table looks like a veritable feast — there’s enough food for the entire neighborhood. Along with traditional dishes such as brisket, chicken and an array of salads, the desserts take center stage. Pastries of all sorts are typically served at holiday celebrations. The focus at Purim is on hamantaschen — named after Haman. You might be asking, “Why is there a delectable pastry identified with an evil man who wanted to annihilate the Jewish people? The answer is simple. Haman wore a three-corner hat. A hamantaschen resembles his hat and the act of eating it symbolizes defeating the enemy. Hamantaschen have a wide variety of fillings such as poppy seed, jam, chocolate and custard. According to a CBS news broadcast, Breads Bakery in New York City will sell as many as 10,000 hamantaschen a day leading up to Purim. Even after the holiday, the request for this delicacy doesn’t slow down. The owner of Breads Bakery, Gadi Peleg, said “The most requested item that we get to continue to do all year is hamantaschen.” Even though there is a great deal of joy surrounding Purim, the memory of a potential genocide cannot be forgotten. The story of Esther has been repeated every year since its origin. Surprisingly, there is no mention of God in the narrative. This is the only book of its type in the Torah. God’s work is shown behind the scenes — no overt miracles or direct intervention, yet God is pulling the strings. Esther’s strength, combined with the help of her uncle Mordecai, showcases the power of faith. Chag Purim Sameach! Happy Purim! Judi Markowitz is a retired high school English teacher of 34 years. She primarily taught 12th grade and had the pleasure of her three sons gracing her classes. In addition, she taught debate, forensics, and Detroit film. Judi has four adult children and seven wonderful grandchildren. She is married to Jeffrey Markowitz, whom she met in high school. Judi grew up in Oak Park, Mich. which had a stellar school district, with excellent teachers. The city provided activities for all–and there were even sidewalks. Judi moved to Huntington Woods as an adult, which is a half mile from her childhood home. She wanted the same experience for her children as she had growing up, and Huntington Woods provided that. The View from Four Foot Two is Judi’s first book.

By Laurence Lerman / New York City As a former DJ, when I first heard about Cocaine Bear several months ago, I couldn’t help but imagine myself voicing an over-the-top radio spot for the film—a frantic, Crazy Eddie-ish commercial hawking what sounded like an equally frantic film: You’ve done it at parties! You’ve seen them at the zoo (or maybe even in the wild)! And now, the infamous wacky white powder and a claw-slashing carnivore come together in a horror-comedy epic that could only be called Cocaine Bear! Coming to theaters everywhere on February 24! Cocaine Bear revolves around a drug runner’s plane crash in a Georgia forest, a large stash of missing cocaine and a hulking black bear that apparently eats it all. The 500-pound apex predator subsequently encounters an oddball group of cops, criminals, teens and tourists as he goes on a coke-fueled rampage seeking out more blow…with some blood on the side. Directed by the actor Elizabeth Banks in her third directorial outing from a script by Jimmy Warden, Cocaine Bear features an ensemble cast that includes Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, Aiden Ehrenrich, O’Shea Jackson, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and, in one of his final big screen roles, Ray Liotta. Opening in 3,500 theaters across North America last Friday to a healthy first weekend box office gross of $23 million, Cocaine Bear came out roaring as it revealed it was more than just a Snakes on a Plane-styled concoction The film also offers a surfeit of thriller elements as well as some redemptive drama, not to mention a healthy dose of affectionate regional flavor à la the early works of Jonathan Demme. (I’m thinking 1977’s Citizen’s Band and 1980’s Melvin and Howard.) While the name of the film and its subject feel like they were yanked right out of a B movie, there’s much more truth here than you’d initially suspect in movie that is billed as being “inspired by true events.” The real story behind Cocaine Bear dates back to 1985 and a report about a 175-pound black bear that lived in the Chattahoochee National Forest near the small town of Blue Ridge, Ga. According to the New York Times, a bear that had been dead for weeks was found by a hunter on a hillside in the forest. The bear died of what appeared to be a cocaine overdose after consuming a large batch of the drug it had stumbled upon in the forest. “The cocaine was apparently dropped from a plane piloted by Andrew Thornton, a convicted drug smuggler who died on Sept. 11 in Knoxville, Tenn., because he was carrying too heavy a load while parachuting. The bear was found Friday in northern Georgia among 40 opened plastic containers with traces of cocaine.” According to a story published by AP a day earlier, each of the plastic containers held one kilogram of cocaine, and the whole lot totaled 88 pounds, valued at as much as $20 million. Predictably, the movie’s plot differs from the actual events in a number of ways, the most notable being that the real-life Cocaine Bear is not known to have killed anyone after consuming the drugs. And what exactly transpired in the time leading up to its death from an overdose is not known. But screenwriter Warden and director Banks appear to have enjoyed pumping up the volume as they filled in the blanks. “This bear is gonna fuck some people up,” declared Banks in an official pre-release featurette that’s been circulating for the past two weeks. “I essentially make comedies and I put them inside of other movies. And this is essentially a comedy inside of a horror movie,” the seasoned actor and occasional filmmaker added. A radiant screen presence for the past 20 years, Banks is best known as the efficacious Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games film series (2012-15), a cappella competition commentator Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the Pitch Perfect series (2012-17) and, demonstrating her range, as former First Lady Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s W. (2008) and Beach Boy Brian Wilson’s second wife Melinda Ledbetter in Love & Mercy. Banks slipped into the director’s chair and made her directorial debut with 2015’s Pitch Perfect 2. The film had a $69 million opening weekend gross that set a record for a first-time director and ultimately rang up $290 million at the international box office. Lightning did not strike twice for her 2019 action-comedy Charlie’s Angels, an inevitable reboot of the ’70 TV series and a pair of subsequent cinematic reimaginings in 2000 and 2003. Banks directed, wrote, produced and co-starred in the new version, which went on to a disappointing worldwide gross of $73 million. Banks took on her third helming effort for Cocaine Bear after reading Warden’s script and falling hard for some of its surprising themes about parenting (as in a bear protecting its cubs) and the sense that the Reagan era’s War on Drugs did some serious damage back in the day. “The film takes place in 1985, which is the height of all these programs to combat crack in America. So many of those policies went sideways and this bear was collateral damage,” she reasoned in an interview with Total Film Magazine. “Then the other thing is nature itself. We, as humans, with our hubris, feel that we can control nature. But if you fuck with nature, nature will fuck with you.” Will Cocaine Bear reach the heights of notoriety and box office success that cocaine and bears attained in such contemporary outings as Scarface (1983), Goodfellas (1990) and Blow (2001) and, for the latter, Grizzly (1976), The Edge (1997) and The Revenant (2015)? We’ll have the answer within a couple of weeks. In the meantime, Banks remains confident. “I can sleep well at night knowing that I did my job well, she proudly declared to Total Film prior to the film’s opening. “If audiences want to see a movie called Cocaine Bear, I have delivered a film that lives up to the title.” Laurence Lerman is a film journalist, former editor of Video Business--Variety's DVD trade publication--and husband to The Insider's own Gwen Cooper. Over the course of his career he has conducted one-on-one interviews with just about every major director working today, including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Kathryn Bigelow, Ridley Scott, Walter Hill, Spike Lee, and Werner Herzog, among numerous others. Once James Cameron specifically requested an interview with Laurence by name, which his wife still likes to brag about. Most recently, he is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the online review site DiscDish.com.

By Naomi Serviss / New York City There are plenty of reasons to theater-hop this spring. New productions with older stars (Laurie Metcalf, Annaleigh Ashford) and bloodthirsty stories (Parade, Sweeney Todd) are tempting, but with a caveat. Most theaters no longer require masking (!), which I consider ill-advised, and I’m not alone. Still, depending on your comfort level, attention must be paid to these tasty theatrical delicacies. Even if you’re reluctant to brave a midtown theater crowd, you may be mighty tempted to catch a new production or even an old chestnut. Seasoned musical powerhouses like Ben Platt (Parade) and Josh Groban (Sweeney Todd) are wowing preview audiences with wrenching and comic personas. Parade may be a 1913 musical drama (based on a true story), but it’s not stuck in the early 20th century. Platt portrays Leo Frank, a factory-owning Jewish New Yorker living in Atlanta. Frank was wrongly convicted of murdering a young female employee, and was ultimately lynched. A strip-downed version at New York City Center’s Encores! was a critical and popular smash last fall. This interpretation of Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown’s musical drama stirred sell-out crowds during its run. A much-revised score and book is a far cry from the musical’s 1998 premiere. In previews at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, it opens March 16, ending August 6. Antisemitic protests outside the theater have put a damper on the upcoming opening, but they reinforce the importance of plays such as this. If now is not the time for a Parade revival, then when? Sweeney Todd: The Demon of Fleet Street will be a hot ticket and prices reflect that. Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford and the golden-throated Josh Groban return to Broadway as the vengeful, blood-letting barber and the human-meat-pie-baking Mrs. Lovett in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s bloody 1979 operetta. Directed by Thomas Kail (Hamilton) with magical choreography by Steven Hoggett, the cast includes the Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles (The King and I) as the Beggar Woman. Previews start February 26 at the Lunt-Fontaine Theater, and open March 26. I’m curious about Amy Herzog’s upcoming adaptation of Ibsen’s Masterpiece, A Doll’s House, with movie star Jessica Chastain playing Nora Helmer. With Arian Moayed (Succession) as Nora’s husband Torvald, the production promises to be bare-bones and emotionally powerful, with Jamie Lloyd directing. It opens March 9 and the limited run ends June 4. Some Like it Hot takes the 1959 film starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon and Marilyn Monroe and flicks it with a contemporary spin. In this musical comedy iteration of crime witnesses hiding out in a woman’s band on a train, Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee and Adrianna Hicks play the key roles. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, its book is by Amber Ruffin and Matthew López. Marc Shaiman wrote the music and lyrics with Scott Wittman. At the Shubert Theater. A dazzling new show, Grey House, promises to scare your socks off. Starring two-time Tony winner Laurie Metcalf (A Doll’s House, Part 2, Three Tall Women) and Emmy nominee Paul Sparks (House of Cards). This spooky thriller hinges on a couple whose car crashes deep in the mountains. Seeking shelter in an isolated cabin might not be the wisest solution, but when you’re stuck, you’re stuck. Just when you think things couldn’t get any hairier or truthier…. Smart and savvy, this new play is “…legitimately terrifying,” wrote the Chicago Tribune. “We are thrilled to bring the horror genre to Broadway, helmed by one of the greatest directors of our time, Joe Mantello. This will be unlike anything Broadway audiences have ever experienced, brought to life by extraordinary actors—Laurie Metcalf, Tatiana Maslany and Paul Sparks—and a team of brilliant designers,” said producers Kirdahy and Ahrens in a statement. With the luminously gifted Metcalf starring, seats will fly. With choreography by legendary Camille A. Brown, sound design by Tony nominee Tom Gibbons and lighting design by seven (!) time Tony winner Natasha Katz! That’s entertainment! Tickets are now on sale through September 3rd. Keep your eyes out for the Off-Broadway Alliance’s 20at20 promotion, offering $20 tickets for off-Broadway plays and musicals 20 minutes before curtain. This biannual event runs March 20-April 9th. Visit 20at20.com for deets. The non-profit promotes and encourages off-Broadway theater and seeks to improve accessibility for new and diverse audiences. It’s a grand time to catch theater, just remember to either buy from the box office or the TKTS ticket booths (Midtown and Lincoln Center) for bargain day-of prices. When it’s your turn at the little window, scan for your favorites but take a chance on new shows as well. Take a chance! Try something new then report back! I’ll be listening. 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

Personal Perspective: Vintage items offer a novel therapeutic boost. This story originally ran in Psychology Today and is reprinted with the author's permission. Posted February 26, 2023 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano By Dr. Barry Lubetkin / New York City When you grow up as the son of a Greenwich Village antique dealer, as I did, it seems only natural that I would develop an interest in vintage objects myself. I would help my dad out in his shop, called the Ye Olde Treasure Shoppe, on 8th street, and was constantly amazed at the variety of objects that antique “pickers” would bring in to sell. What made working there even more exciting was that it was a shopping destination for many members of the Beat Generation. I met Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and so many others who helped define that important cultural movement in the 1950s and early 60s. Even Eleanor Roosevelt would stop in occasionally to view my father’s wonderful collection of artifacts. Over the years, as I developed my own interest in collecting, I must have visited hundreds of flea markets, antique stores, and, more recently, online venues for antiques. It became clear to me that there were many items available that represented the jobs and professions that evolved in the United States over many years. For example, there were giant depictions of eyes that served as trade signs for optometrists, antique representations of the caduceus for physicians, oversized teeth that would welcome patients to a dentist's office. I observed, however, that there were hardly any vintage items for sale that reflected the professions of psychology or psychiatry. Perhaps this was so because they were relatively new professions, or quite possibly trade signs for those professions might embarrass or discomfort patients arriving at their offices. In any event, I took it upon myself as a personal mission to seek out vintage items related to the mental health professions. And thus, my collection of psycholectables was born! A number of years ago, the American Psychological Association (APA) heard of my collection and dispatched a video team to the Institute for Behavior Therapy in New York City to record many of the items that were displayed in my professional office. Since that recording was made and posted on YouTube (google: Barry Lubetkin APA), the collection has quadrupled in size. Even The Antiques and Arts Weekly magazine interviewed me about the collection for their September 10, 2021 edition. Some of the most interesting items include Sigmund Freud's visiting card with his signed notation of his patient's next appointment; many paintings and sculptures depicting therapists treating their patients; vintage psychological tests; a collection of old phrenology books; a giant steel sign with the words MIND HEALER that hung over a psychic's booth in Coney Island in the 50s; a signed article by William James stating his awareness that since he embraced behaviorism, he would lose his popularity among colleagues; a very early (1940s) illustration of the first weight-control center in America; and an LP record titled LSD by Timothy Leary as well as an official notice of his escape from a California jail! For many years, I delighted in sharing my collection with my patients, who often remarked that they were inspired to develop their own hobbies and interests when they observed the passion that I felt for my collection. And particularly during the pandemic, several patients told me that their new hobbies helped them immensely to fight boredom and depression during long stay-at-home days. Who could have ever imagined that sitting in my father's store all those years ago and dusting off antique items would provide me with a new technique for helping patients! Barry Lubetkin, Ph.D. is the co-director and co-founder of the Institute for Behavior Therapy in New York City. The Institute for Behavior Therapy is the oldest private cognitive behavior center in the United States.

By Judi Markowitz It is well-documented that Holocaust survivors suffered unbearable emotional wounds from Nazi persecution. For some, the wounds remained open and never healed. Survivors experienced PTSD, guilt associated with survival, depression, and anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, the children of survivors have expressed similar issues. I recently met a second-generation Holocaust survivor, Sigmund Glaser, better known as Ziggy. His story of reaching adulthood does not follow in the footprint of the oppressed —Ziggy broke the mold. According to a 2015 study by Scientific American “Descendants of people who survived the Holocaust have different stress hormone profiles than their peers.” This would predispose them to anger and fear. But there are also opposing viewpoints. Many children of survivors are not plagued with these issues. They do not bear the scars of their parents, nor do they exhibit similar mental health issues. Ziggy wasn’t traumatized by his parents’ experiences in the camps. He only wanted a normal childhood, which he was denied. This situation didn’t make him bitter or resentful—it propelled him to a higher level of resolve. Ziggy was born in Munich, Germany in 1947. After living in Germany as a young boy, Ziggy’s parents, Samuel and Helen, moved to Detroit in 1956 because his father’s twin brother lived there, and Ziggy’s mother did not want to stay in Germany. The constant memories of the concentration camps unfolded before her there on a regular basis. said Ziggy. “My mother had nightmares of terror, torture, and death. But somehow my father was able to bury the past. He compartmentalized the horror of the five concentration camps they were forced to endure.” Unfortunately, Ziggy’s father did such a good job of forgetting the past that it enabled him to move back to Germany– he abandoned his family. Samuel was disappointed with life in the U.S. and his family didn’t fulfill him. It was 1957 and Ziggy’s mother was now on her own with two children to raise and a limited income. Recalls Ziggy, “I stood up to the challenges as best I could. I had a Detroit News route, cut grass, plowed snow to contribute to our well-being — all of this starting when I was nine.” In 1960, Ziggy’s mother decided she needed a change of venue for herself and the children, so they moved to Los Angeles. She wanted to become certified in cosmetology and friends from Poland were living there. They relocated and Ziggy, once again, started to work. He was 14 and found a job at a deli on Fairfax Avenue. Ziggy attended school, had a bar mitzvah and the family seemed to be headed in the right direction — that is, until Ziggy’s mother became sick. Ziggy remembered that her illness created havoc: “When my mother became ill and was hospitalized, my sister and I were sent to several foster homes. It was painful.” With the diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease and one amputated leg, Helen tried to start over. Her children were with her again and Ziggy learned to drive at 15 . He qualified for a special license that allowed him to drive since he was his mother’s primary caretaker. He recalls, “Things began to look optimistic for our group of three until 1964.” His mother’s health began to decline yet again and this time there was no lifeline to save her. Helen died in 1964. She was 40 years old. Ziggy’s hope for his mother was that she had passed on to a better place. She had grown up believing in a God who would protect her, and she could never have imagined the atrocities she witnessed in the camps. Her life in Shonova, Poland was filled with friends and family, and everything revolved around Jewish values. Nearly all the people she loved were murdered. Ziggy said, “My mom couldn’t ever foresee such a wild and devastating storm. She didn’t see it coming.” The bad dream never ended for Helen. During these trying times, Ziggy and his sister Edith were placed in Vista del Mar, a home for youth. Thankfully, their stay in the home was short-lived because Uncle Isaac and Auntie Genia Greener moved them back to Detroit. At this point Ziggy’s primary focus was to keep pushing forward. He couldn’t watch over his sister all the time since she was four years younger. Ziggy now had to look out for himself . He was only 16 years old. Attending Henry Ford High school in Detroit in 1964, Ziggy began to feel comfortable. He worked several jobs, including L.G. Haig, a shoe store, and as an attendant at a Shell gas station. Ziggy also joined AZA , a Jewish fraternity, to meet other teens. But just when life seemed to take a turn for the better, things went sideways. The months were numbered at his Aunt Genia and Uncle Isaac’s house Ziggy was passed around like a baseball on the field. The next pitch took him to a distant cousin’s house in Oak Park. That situation turned out to be untenable and Ziggy was on his way again to a series of homes. The game finally ended when Ziggy rented a room in the neighborhood so he could stay in the school district. The punches kept coming, but Ziggy fought back like a champ. In 1965 Ziggy’s father finally decided to take the two children back to Germany. His sister had no choice in this decision; she was 12 years old. But Ziggy was determined to make it on his own. Remembering that his mother wanted a better life for the family in the United States, Ziggy then developed his personal philosophy: set goals, focus, work hard, and achieve. He stayed in Oak Park as a tribute to his mother. Ziggy decided that he had to carve out a new path for his life. With the friends made at Oak Park High School, Ziggy found comradery, loyalty and families that genuinely cared for him. They were like Spanky and Our Gang — all committed to helping one another and enjoying the adventure along the way. Says Ziggy, “My friend Bruce Harris was the mastermind and then Irv Elkin came onboard too. They conned their parents into letting me crash until I was ready to fly on my own.” His friends and their families all pitched in. Irv’s dad made sure Ziggy had a warm coat from his clothing store, Bruce’s dad took care of his dental health. Jerry Kwaslow’s family had Ziggy see a doctor regularly–Dr. Lloyd J. Paul. Ziggy had his own HMO before they were popular. Cousins Morry and Harry Greener helped Ziggy get oriented to his new environment. He learned to blend in with friends and be part of the group. Ziggy felt like a middle brother to his cousins. Others such as George Mann, Mark Berkley, and Jeff Olstein welcomed Ziggy into their homes for meals and to hang out. The list of friends was long and Ziggy says, “These guys were always there for me. They are the pillars of my life. Some I see weekly, some monthly, and some are not in my circle anymore. But I still feel like a brother to them, and I will never forget their friendship. I am indebted to them all.” Graduating from Oak Park High School in 1966 was a high point in Ziggy’s life. He also received a small scholarship to attend Eastern Michigan University. Ziggy reflected that the scholarship wasn’t for his grades, but possibly for his perseverance. He had to work while going to school and, ultimately, couldn’t afford to live in the dorm and moved several times. Then Ziggy took a job in a morgue because it offered free rent. The morgue was combined with an ambulance service too. So, Ziggy went on runs to help people in distress but there was a problem—Ziggy couldn’t tolerate the sight of blood. To make a tough situation worse, Ziggy was accidentally cut while working and developed hepatitis. He was hospitalized for three weeks. Then a new plan was hatched to ensure his continued health. Uncle Isaac and Ziggy’s gang of friends rescued him while he recuperated. In 1967, Ziggy decided to fly to Munich, Germany to see his father and sister. He used the last of his savings for the trip. His father had remarried and now had a daughter. Upon arrival, Ziggy immediately knew his stay would be short-lived. This was the country his mother despised. Ziggy says, “I didn’t hate my father because he was a survivor–I respected that.” They became friends even though Ziggy only considered him as “The Biological.” But Ziggy did give him credit. He says now,” My father taught me to forgive, forget and move on.” While in Munich, Ziggy helped his father in his electronics store, and they even seemed like a family for a short while. A vacation was planned. The Glaser family traveled to Italy and at 21, Ziggy met Rosalind Bloomberg, a 22-year-old from Leeds, England. A romance was in the works. When Ziggy returned to Germany, he corresponded with Rosalind by mail. Ziggy was invited to stay in Rosalind’s home. He took the offer and lived with her family for almost a year in 1968. They were incredibly good to Ziggy. But he felt the pressure of Rosalind’s family. They wanted a marriage, to buy the couple a home, offers for a decent paying job. It was all too much, and Ziggy was in a quandary. Then Ziggy received a draft notice. By the time the letter was in his hands, Ziggy only had four days left to report to the draft board in New York City. Ziggy says,” I had a choice. I could marry Rosalind and become a citizen of the U.K. or go to Vietnam. I was scared of marriage at the time, so I chose the Army.” As luck would have it, Ziggy’s orders sent him straight to Vietnam — the military police was his first assignment. Ziggy then volunteered as a typist — a job with the Provost Marshall’s Office. Taking a typing class at Fairfax High School in California saved him from reconnaissance missions. While on tour of duty at Cam Ranh Bay, he climbed the professional ladder and made quick rank. Ziggy also served in jobs with the motor pool and the ammunitions record keeper. Ziggy confides that he was not the best with numbers; in fact, he couldn’t reconcile a checkbook. He made the job work — anything to stay out of the jungle. After a year in Vietnam, Ziggy was sent back to the U.S.and completed his service as an E5 — a commander in charge of a squad. The G.I. Bill was now Ziggy’s ticket to a free education, and he readily took advantage. Ziggy went to New York and enrolled in a program to become an electronics technician. Vietnam vets also received a special school incentive, and this enabled Ziggy to simply be a student — it was the first time he didn’t have to work to support himself. Ziggy rented an apartment in Brooklyn, attended the RCA Institute, and was on his way to a secure future. Moving back to Michigan and starting a new life was Ziggy’s goal. After receiving his certification in 1973, Ziggy rented an apartment in Southfield. While visiting his Aunt Harriet and Uncle Ron in Oak Park, he was introduced to a neighbor who lived across the street — Cheryl. His aunt and uncle said she was getting divorced, had two small children, and was a nice person. They went on a date, hit it off and married in 1974. Ziggy was 27. Working for his own company, VTR TV, in Novi, Mich. brought Ziggy a great deal of satisfaction — that is until the economy changed. Much to his dismay, Ziggy had to close his doors. After this, he worked at several TV repair stores until a neighbor told him about a promising position right up his alley. Ultimately, Ziggy found his ideal job working at Henry Ford Hospital in the electronics department. He continued with school using the G.I. Bill to obtain his FCC First Class license. Ziggy worked at Henry Ford for 36 years, and then moved on to new adventures — retirement is not in his vocabulary. Ziggy is still enjoying snow skiing, riding his bike, horseback riding, exercising, kayaking, and running a boot camp at La Fitness — the list is endless. Ziggy is now 75 years old. Ziggy's rewarding life now Cheryl and Ziggy had two children of their own and raised all four as one family. He became a father in the truest sense of the word — always available to listen, talk, teach and participate in their lives. They now have nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. They travel together and celebrate important milestones within the family. Ziggy said, “I didn’t want to spoil my children but I made sure they had a childhood and helped them out in any way possible.” Ziggy’s life story sounds like a work of fiction. Unfortunately, he faced a difficult reality each day while trying to find purpose and meaning. With hope and determination, Ziggy moved forward and resisted the elements that could have pulled him under. He became strong in the face of adversity and learned valuable life lessons from his parents and friends. Sigmund “Ziggy” Glaser is the true hero of his story. “I don’t want people to feel sorry for me,” he says now. “I survived the survivors. If I died tomorrow, I would have no regrets. I have accomplished everything I set out to do — I’m fulfilled and truly blessed.” Judi Markowitz is a retired high school English teacher of 34 years. She primarily taught 12th grade and had the pleasure of her three sons gracing her classes. In addition, she taught debate, forensics, and Detroit film. Judi has four adult children and seven wonderful grandchildren. She is married to Jeffrey Markowitz, whom she met in high school. Judi grew up in Oak Park, Mich. which had a stellar school district, with excellent teachers. The city provided activities for all–and there were even sidewalks. Judi moved to Huntington Woods as an adult, which is a half mile from her childhood home. She wanted the same experience for her children as she had growing up, and Huntington Woods provided that. The View from Four Foot Two is Judi’s first book.

By Lydia Hope Wilen / New York City About Richard in Richard’s Own Words On my sixth birthday, my father bought me a sketch book, an easel and a box of charcoal. He also bought me a set of boxing gloves. These gifts set the pattern for the rest of my life. I was born in Philadelphia. I studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. I am an artist. I am also a writer. I was a boxer, actor, cement mason and migrant laborer. My philosophy of art is that of William Faulkner. All great art must deal with the affairs of the heart. Neighborhood Watch Stevie Gross was never bullied, even in his rough and tough Philadelphia neighborhood. Why? Big Brother was watching. No one messed with Dickie Gross’s kid brother or with his brother’s friends. Dickie was their hero. That never changed. The location changed when he moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Also, his name changed from Dickie to Dick to Richard. The hero part stayed the same. Richard was just about everyone’s hero--in one way or another—throughout his entire life. And a colorful life it was. To earn a living, Richard took whatever jobs were available, exposing him to, well to everything good and bad, awakening in him an interest in acting, in which he could use his eventful experiences on stage in terms of character studies and sense memories. Headshots for work as an actor Move Over, Marlon Jack Heller, actor and director, met Richard at New Jersey’s Lake Hopatcong Summer Theater. Richard had the lead in A Streetcar Named Desire. Jack remembers that Richard was the best Stanley Kowalski ever. Richard gave an absolutely “stella” performance. West Side Warrior Jack moved into an apartment across the street from where Richard lived on Manhattan’s West 70th Street. In order to afford the apartment, Jack needed a roommate. He put an ad in the New York Times and was flooded with replies. When one of the prospects asked Jack what color eyes he had, Richard, who had been around the block (and not just on W. 70th Street) volunteered to sit in on the interviews and help Jack make the best selection. And he did. Richard always found a way to help, no matter how and where the need arose. My sister Joany and I lived in that same building across the street from Richard. There was construction in the apartment below ours, causing an infestation of vermin in our apartment. Within a day, we found another apartment; thanks to Richard helping my father, we were moved out of the old apartment and into the new one two days later. Those were a couple of diverse examples and everyday occurrences for Richard, the protector, the mentor, the networker, the caregiver, the beyond-thoughtful friend. Ask Ellen Mensch, who, for over four decades, was the love of Richard’s life and his witness. She could tell you about the countless major and minor deeds done by Richard. Another Dose of Gross One day, not that long ago, my housephone rang. It was the doorman, telling me someone dropped off a package. Hmmm. I wasn’t expecting anything. On my way down to the front desk, I thought of a few people that might be leaving a gratitude gift. (HA! Silly me.) Much to my surprise, the package was from Richard. During a recent telephone conversation, we talked about acknowledgement for writing, including for his and my entries and acceptances in the West Side Rag (WSR), a popular, daily local online newsletter. I happened to mention that I never got the promised WSR mug for my published entry. Yup! As you may have guessed, it was Richard’s WSR mug. He felt bad that I didn’t get one, so he gave me his. Who does that? Richard! Richard Gross, Artist Richard’s paintings are powerful and sensitive, heartwarming and heartbreaking, thought-provoking and impactful. Richard was a great artist. There are many great artists. Richard was also a great person. There aren’t many of them…not like Richard. CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW FOR A SLIDE SHOW OF RICHARD GROSS'S PAINTINGS Lydia Hope Wilen had a successful collaboration with her late sister Joany as nonfiction bestselling authors (18 books), journalists, TV personalities, writers and talent coordinators on a Nickelodeon series hosted by Leonard Nimoy, Reading Rainbow episodes, skit writers for Dr. Ruth's TV show, Diet America Challenge on CBS, and writers of screenplays (optioned but not produced yet). Lydia is writing on her own now and has just completed an extraordinary book for young people and their parents. It will have them laughing and learning...once she gets an agent and it gets published.

By John Rolfe / Red Hook, N.Y. Cue up the laugh emoji and call me a virtue-signaling snowflake, but I’m one of those old school farts who despairs at the tide of execrable behavior that has swamped the nation. Hillary Clinton saying that half of Donald Trump’s supporters belong in “a basket of deplorables” was a politically disastrous statement, but it seemed to drive nearly all of them to prove her right by celebrating a sneering disregard for others. “F--- your feelings” became a rallying slogan on the right. “F--- Joe Biden” flags and stickers sprouted on houses and cars. So much for public decorum. The Republican Party has embraced this large, unsavory base — millions of American voters — and civility is vanishing from Congress. The heckling of President Biden during his State of the Union address is just one example. Along with personal attacks, outright falsehoods and hypocrisy are seen as useful tools for pursuing one’s agenda. Meanwhile, it wasn’t enough that Jan. 6 rioters, still defended by the GOP, became murderously violent in their so-called “political discourse.” Some felt compelled to defecate in halls of the Capitol while others proudly posted their despicable antics on social media. All across our society, crass has replaced class as something to admire and emulate. If you can’t rise to someone else’s level, you can always drag them down to yours. I feel myself being sucked into this black hole of nastiness, my tolerance for nitwits dwindling while my impatience and sarcasm grow. It feels like many people have stopped aspiring to greater things and chosen to take the easy low road where others are treated rudely, even viciously, in public places. I thought about this when Eagles fans ran amok in Philadelphia after their team lost the Super Bowl to Kansas City, chanting “F--- the Chiefs” and battling with police. “It’s a Philly thing,” is how they justify hideous behavior. Philadelphia has long been notorious — in the 1960s, Phillies pitcher Bo Belinsky famously said the city’s fans “would boo funerals, an Easter egg hunt, a parade of armless war vets and the Liberty Bell” — but other places, such as New York City, have plenty of rowdy, mean-spirited fans. However, the ones in Philly are openly embracing ugliness as matter of civic pride. It’s horrifying to see many people accept crudity and selfishness while virtue, humility, inclusion and expertise are scorned and ignorance is held up as knowledge. Thanks in large part to social media giving everyone a platform and exposure, notoriety has become a means of achieving fame (or infamy, which many think is equally good). I would hate to be a parent trying to raise a kid to be honest, polite, respectful, kind, considerate, and intelligent in a time when liars and childish boors like Trump can become rich, powerful and even President of the United States and a charlatan like George Santos stalks the halls of Congress. Santos, who is now a perverse celebrity and the nation’s factory showroom floor of falsehood, has credited lying (which he calls “adding a bit of fluff” to his résumé) with getting him where he is today. Danielle Lee Tomson, writing in Politico, describes Santos as “playing to the incentives of the attention economy, which exploded in the past decade. Those trying to shame Santos will find their words falling on deaf ears: For the Congressman, it is more important to be noticed than liked.” Santos is the poster boy for the benefits of shamelessness. So what are the benefits of honesty, integrity, empathy and tact? If you try to live by the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you), why do you do it? Because it just feels right or makes you feel good and the world a better place? There are benefits in it for you that come back in kind? The threat of punishment (from a deity or earthly authorities) if you don’t? All or some of the above? What does living that way guarantee other than you not being a louse? At least by being honest, you don’t have to spend time trying to remember which lie you told to whom. But how much does that really matter now? BS can be very beneficial and very lucrative. Alex Jones has made a fortune by broadcasting the most hideous falsehoods. Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham are paid handsome salaries to “report” and comment on things they know aren’t true. Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen has brought him hundreds of millions of dollars in donations from those who want to believe it despite rulings in 60-plus court cases, recounts, audits, several investigations, a grand jury report in Georgia, and an in-depth study by researchers Trump hired that found there is no evidence of fraud, tampering with voting machines or other chicanery. Virtue (behavior showing high moral standards) is the hard road in life. It’s easier to be a nasty phony. It takes more than many people have in them to admit mistakes, sincerely apologize and be a “stand up” guy or gal when they can just insist they were right and good despite all evidence to the contrary, cook up their own alternative facts to support their claims, thumb their noses, and go their merry way without any consequences that concern them. I’m reminded of Trump and others like him whenever the kids on the school bus I drive insist they haven’t misbehaved, even though there is a mountain of video and audio to the contrary. Sometimes I wonder if they even know the difference between good and bad and if it’s all relative and a personal choice that ultimately makes no difference in the end. I saw great irony in one of the recent “He gets us” TV commercials (funded by anti-LGBTQ billionaire/Hobby Lobby founder David Green and other right wingers) that claimed “Jesus didn’t want us to act like adults.” Not to worry. We aren’t. We’re behaving like spoiled kids, throwing tantrums when we don’t get our way, bullying others, saying anything we want and demanding that the world revolve around us. Only a Jesus could gladly suffer children like this. John Rolfe is a former senior editor for Sports Illustrated for Kids, a longtime columnist for the Poughkeepsie Journal/USA Today Network, and author of The Goose in the Bathroom: Stirring Tales of Family Life. His school bus drivin’ blog “Hellions, Mayhem and Brake Failure” is parked on his website Celestialchuckle.com (https://celestialchuckle.com) with the meter running.