Why did some components of the Intelligence Community lean toward a laboratory release as the source of the pandemic? May 31, 2022 | By Jeffrey D. Sachs and Neil L. Harrison | The Boston Globe It’s not yet clear whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 was created in a laboratory or emerged from nature; there is still no decisive evidence for either alternative. To find out, we have recently called for an independent and transparent investigation into the possible role that US biotechnology played in the emergence of the virus. Americans have heard a lot about the possibility that Chinese laboratories played a role in the emergence of the pandemic, but very little about the role US organizations might have played. When President Biden tasked the US Intelligence Community with determining the origin of SARS-CoV-2, it found that either “a laboratory-associated incident” or a “natural origin” was possible. The IC said that China should cooperate more to find the truth, but did not make clear, or perhaps did not fully realize, the role that US science might have played in the origin of the virus. More important, the IC didn’t present the details of its inquiry for independent scientific scrutiny. We don’t know whether the IC’s analysis was comprehensive or superficial. The origins of the COVID-19 pandemic remain unknown, but may have had an assist from advanced US biotechnology. We do know this: The National Institutes of Health, which funded a lot of potentially hazardous and under-regulated laboratory manipulation of SARS-like viruses, has been less than transparent. And that’s stating matters politely. The NIH has done its part to throw scientists and the public off track regarding the US-based and funded research. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is so easily transmitted because it has an unusual sequence within its genetic code that makes the virus more infectious than other related viruses (including the original SARS virus from the 2003 outbreak). The key is the presence of a so-called Furin Cleavage Site that enhances the ability of the virus to enter and infect human cells. From the early days of the pandemic, scientists have wondered how an FCS got into the SARS-CoV-2 genome, since it is the only virus among the group of SARS-like viruses that has an FCS. Other more distant relatives, such as the virus that causes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, have an FCS, but these other viruses are quite distant from SARS-CoV-2 in terms of evolution. Did the FCS evolve naturally, or was it put into the virus by a laboratory manipulation? This may seem an odd question. Wouldn’t that be a very dangerous thing to do? The answer is yes, it could definitely be dangerous, especially without proper safeguards. Yet remarkably, inserting an FCS was an aim of a US-China research team, using biotechnology developed by US scientists. In a Project DEFUSE research proposal to the US government from the University of North Carolina, the EcoHealth Alliance, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the team wrote, “We will analyze all SARSr-CoV S gene sequences for appropriately conserved proteolytic cleavage sites in S2 and for the presence of potential Furin Cleavage Sites. . . . Where clear mismatches occur, we will introduce appropriate human-specific cleavage sites and evaluate growth potential in Vero cells and HAE cultures.” Much of this work was to be carried out in a Wuhan laboratory with a low level of biosafety control. In plain English, the researchers would look for FCS in viruses, and when they didn’t occur naturally, would insert them. Notably, the UNC-EHA-WIV team also mentioned “>180 bat SARSr-Cov strains sequenced in our prior work and not yet examined for spillover potential.” These sequences have not been made public. Why would scientists propose such dangerous work? As one of the leaders of this research at UNC wrote in an editorial in 2018, “the study of zoonotic and human CoV [coronaviruses] outside of their natural host often times requires genetic manipulation and GOF to be useful.” GOF, meaning “gain-of-function,” is research in which the coronavirus is manipulated in the laboratory and then tested for its ability to infect cells and reproduce in tissue. It’s used in drug and vaccine development. Now, here’s the thing: The DEFUSE proposal was rejected. But was the work undertaken anyway? We have no idea, but it is standard procedure to carry out preliminary work, or even a whole project, whether or not a particular grant is accepted. And in truth, the DEFUSE proposal is part of a much larger, and still hidden, research agenda overseen by the NIH. When the NIH was asked to release its 2020 Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research, it did so — with all 290 pages fully blanked out. The fact is that NIH has not told the American people, or the scientific community, what it knows about the origins of SARS-CoV-2. In a conference call call on Feb. 1, 2020, NIH leaders heard top virologists explain why the FCS in SARS-CoV-2 indicated the possibility of laboratory manipulation of the virus. Yet just a few days later, NIH encouraged a team of scientists to prepare a paper declaring a natural origin of the virus. Subsequently, NIH has resisted the release of critical documentation and dragged its feet until forced to make disclosures under Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, often providing only highly redacted materials. The Biden administration and the scientific community need to do better. What work did NIH, DOD, and other US agencies fund that might have contributed to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2? When did agencies of the USG first learn of the virus? What evidence might there be in the United States in the form of laboratory notes, electronic communications, virus databases, and other troves of information, that can shed light on this matter? Why did some components of the Intelligence Community lean toward a laboratory release as the source of the pandemic? There has been enough obfuscation and foot-dragging. Let’s open the books and get the facts from US organizations to see what light they can shed on the origin of this tragic global disaster. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/31/opinion/questions-surrounding-origins-covid-19-remain-unanswered/ Jeffrey D. Sachs is university professor at Columbia University. Neil L. Harrison is a professor at Columbia University.

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."

One film journalist’s stream-of-consciousness cinematic journey through the pandemic, Part 85 By Laurence Lerman / New York City Last month, Reel Streaming presented a curatorial selection from May’s theatrical release schedule, which was a far cry from that of May, 2021. Back then, a number of major productions initially slated for late spring and summer release were being rescheduled for the fall of 2021. That’s not the case this year—and I couldn’t be happier! Just as May’s theatrical rollout list was much healthier than that of 2021, June’s schedule is also extremely robust. Gone—at least, at this point—are the days of major films bypassing theaters completely and receiving solely digital and streaming releases. What a difference a year (or two) makes. Think back to the early days of the pandemic, lockdown and quarantine. It was on March 11, 2020 that Hollywood couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson revealed their positive Covid diagnoses to the world, which underscored the increasingly dire situation created by the virus. The two were in Australia for preproduction of director Baz Luhrmann’s as-then untitled Elvis Presley film from Warner, in which two-time Oscar winner Hanks co-stars. Well, two years and change later, that film, Elvis, is complete and readying for release to some 2,000-plus theaters across the country on June 24. That’s a month after Top Gun: Maverick starring Tom Cruise, which opened on Memorial Day weekend, and was booked into 4,727 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, making it one of the widest theatrical releases of all time. So, yes, we’ve come a long way—even as we clearly still have a long way to go, what with Covid cases once again spiking around the U.S.. But along that journey, we have scads of choices as to what we can see in our local movie houses (or, in the case of some of the smaller titles, in theaters and on streaming platforms). Here are 10 of them! Crimes of the Future (June 3) Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart star in David Cronenberg’s first feature since 2014’s Map to the Stars. The Canadian auteur’s latest marks a return to the evolutionary body horror themes he explored decades back in his signature works Crash (2004) and Videodrome (1983). This one revolves around a pair of avant-garde performance artists who use internal organ mutations as their canvas. Sounds like Cronenberg, alright! Eiffel (June 3) The oh-so-French-and-beautiful Romaine Duris and Emma Mackey star in this biographical drama-romance about celebrated 19th-century civil engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose creativity is piqued when he encounters a mysterious woman from his past. This prompts him to design something truly spectacular for the 1889 Paris World’s Fair. One guess as to what that might be…. Jurassic World Dominion (June 10) Dominion, the sequel to 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, serves as the sixth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise and the conclusion to the storyline started in the original Jurassic Park trilogy. Appropriately, the cast of the first installment from 1993—Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum—reunite for the first time in nearly 30 years for this latest film, which promises dinosaurs wandering through cities and jungles alike. Lost Illusions (June 10) Xavier Giannoli’s sumptuous-looking adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s epic novel focuses on an ambitious aspiring poet named Lucien in 19th-century France who leaves his provincial town for Paris. Overwhelmed by the sophistication of the city’s elite, Lucien is introduced to the business of journalism via a salon of wordsmiths and wunderkinds who can make or break the reputations of actors and artists with the stroke of a quill. Rising French actors Benjamin Voisin and Vincent Lacoste star, with able support from lovely Cécile de France and veteran Gerard Depardieu. Lightyear (June 17) The latest Pixar production unveils the origin story of heroic Buzz Lightyear of the famed Toy Story franchise. This spinoff focuses on the early life of the fictional test pilot/astronaut whom the Buzz Lightyear action figure featured in the Toy Story films was inspired by. How meta! Chris Evans provides the voice of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger. Brian and Charles (June 17) The feature directorial debut from the UK’s Jim Archer is a quirky comedy that follows Brian, a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who uses a washing machine and various spare parts to invent Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and has an obsession with cabbages. Screenwriters David Early and Chris Hayward star as the titular twosome. Cocoon (June 17) The second feature from German writer-director Leonie Krippendorff is a coming-of-age drama revolving around a shy 14-year-old Berlin girl who takes her first steps toward adulthood over the course of one unforgettable summer. The acclaimed Cocoon finally arrives on U.S. shores two years after its premiere at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. Elvis (June 24) Baz Luhrmann’s music-filled, big ticket movie explores the life and career of Elvis Presley as seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his dodgy manager, Colonel Tom Parker. One of this summer’s most anticipated arrivals, it stars Austin Butler as the King, a prosthetics-outfitted Tom Hanks as the Colonel and the Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. The Black Phone (June 24) From writer/director Scott Derrickson, the season’s most anticipated horror entry concerns a shy but clever 13-year-old boy named Finney who is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. Young Mason Thames portrays Finney and the busier-than-ever Ethan Hawke is on board as the bad guy. Flux Gourmet (June 24) The strangest-sounding release of the month revolves around a group of experimental performance artists known for “sonic catering” (the extracting of disturbing sounds from various foods) who encounter even more bizarre situations when they take up residency at a remote institution. Written and directed by Peter Stickland, this black comedy horror film features an idiosyncratic cast that includes Asa Butterfield (Netflix’s Sex Education), Gwendoline Christie (HBO’s Game of Thrones) and Greek-French cult star Ariane Labed (The Lobster). 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 Bonnie Fishman / San Francisco Bay Area Heard this sunny saying before? It’s the lyric of a song written in 1931 and popularized by such standout performers as Ethel Merman, Judy Garland and Doris Day. It means life is pleasant and full of enjoyment. I don’t know about you, but when I see beautiful, juicy, dark cherries come into season, I’m feeling pretty joyful! Here in California, cherry season is already in full swing. It will begin in Oregon and Washington in early to mid-June, and will get rolling in the midwest in late June or early July. The U.S. is a strong second to Turkey in growing the most cherries in the world. I have a particular affinity for cherries. My home state of Michigan grows 40 percent of this country’s tart cherries. There are cherry stands dotting the northern tier of the Lower Peninsula during July. We Michiganders can’t get enough! Dried cherries are featured in many desserts, salads and entrees. The summer before college, I eagerly visited a cherry farm in Traverse City Mich. where a friend’s family owned and operated one of the largest cherry farms around. (It’s now a wonderful golf course. You never know what life brings you!) He took us on a tour and showed us how they picked cherries. It was so surreal that I still remember it to this day. They would lay tarps down around the trees. Then a hydraulic tree shaker would go into action. The cherries rained down onto the tarp where they were dumped into trucks. Out here in California, they are picked by hand as migrant workers begin in the south and work their way north as the next cherry crop ripens. Here at the Fishman Family Compound, in fall 2021, we decided to put in an orchard of various fruit trees, one of them a cherry tree. Last week was our first harvest. Don’t get excited: we had one cherry! It was delicious even though laughable. We soon found out that it takes three to five years before a tree begins to produce, so this shouldn’t have come as a surprise to us, but what did we know?! Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Borello U-Pick Cherry Orchards in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, in the south San Francisco Bay area. It was a sweltering, unseasonably hot day, even at 11 am, but the promise of hanging out among the gorgeous cherry-laden trees made me forget how sweaty I was. Mary Borello, one of the owners, met me at the U-Pick entrance, as she guided a number of cars down the dirt path between the trees to get to the picking area. The Borello Family Farms (or ranch as they call it) go way back to 1925, when Sebastian Borello arrived from Italy and began a cherry business that has since been run by generations of Borellos, It is now in the capable hands of Mary and her husband Chris, who is Sebastian's great-great-grandson. Chris’s grandfather, Johnny Borello, still comes to the orchards every day at age 92 to make his presence known. The family began with one orchard and now has five, totaling over 230 acres that yield 8,000-10,000 pounds of cherries in a good year. They raise Bings (the gold standard of sweet cherries), Lapins, Sweethearts, Corals and Raniers (the yellow ones with a rose blush). I had to give it a lot of thought as to which recipe I would make this week. I didn’t want to go the pie or tart route. Cobbler? Nah. Crisp? Nope. How about an unfamiliar dessert? I chose Cherry Clafouti. Originating in France in the 1800s, Clafouti is a dessert consisting of a layer of fruit (such as cherries) topped with batter and baked. This delicacy has a lot going for it. Besides being delicious, it is light to eat, you can change it drastically by choosing a different fruit such as raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries, and it’s simple to make. It’s basically a cross between custard and a pancake. I hope you try this easy dessert and enjoy the fruits of the season. Let us know here at The Insider how your Clafouti turns out. And let’s hope that the Fishman Family Compound’s modest cherry yield will someday equal that of the Borellos! Cherry Clafouti Yield: 6-8 servings 1 lb. fresh ripe cherries, pitted and drained 3 lg. eggs 3/4 c. flour 1/2 c. sugar + 2 Tbsp., divided 1 Tbsp. vanilla pinch of salt 1 1/4 c. milk Confectioners’ sugar for garnish Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 2 1/2 quart shallow casserole with pan release. Reserve. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Slowly whisk in the milk so as not to create lumps. Spread the pitted cherries all over the bottom of the casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Pour over the custard mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes until the clafouti is set. Serve warm or at room temperature. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving. Clafouti can be made ahead, refrigerated, and rewarmed. 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 Victoria Rolfe / Red Hook, N.Y. Homesteading on a vegan diet is pretty easy. No messy livestock to deal with! We only eat plants. But here at the Rolfe household, we do make one exception to that vegan rule. And that is eggs from our beloved chickens. That is the only animal product that we eat, and only from our own adorable and happy flock. Unlike with other dietary animal products, eating eggs does not involve any cruelty to the animals. They do not have to die an early death or be separated from their babies to have their milk extracted from them for our consumption. Just for the record, chickens are not proprietary over their eggs. Once they lay eggs, they move on and forget about them. The only time they care is when a chicken goes broody and decides she wants to be a mom. This chicken will sit on all the eggs in the egg box, not just hers. She doesn’t care who laid them. She just has the urge to hatch and care for some baby chicks. In fact, it might be said that our own chickens are spoiled rotten. They live the life of Riley, er, Reilly (which happens to be one of their names). It is incredibly easy to care for chickens. They require almost no time or effort. All they need is a safe place to live and food and fresh water and a soft, private place to lay their eggs. You can either buy them as chicks and raise them yourself or buy them as adults or pullets (just about fully grown and about to start laying eggs). We chose to do the former because well, have you ever seen little baby chicks? Raising them is easy-peasy too. They just need a confinement (we used a plastic storage container), and warmth. They sell heat lamps for chicks, but we just used a light my son had for filming purposes suspended above them. Then just chick food and water and watch them grow. Of course, you must check them regularly for problems. Fortunately, we didn’t have any. And, this is the fun part, if you want them to be personable you need to handle them daily. We had plenty of kids and their friends to help out with that part. They soon outgrow their little container and need to go into something larger before they are ready for their outside coop. At this point we put ours in an old kiddie pool that we set up in the basement and surrounded it with chicken wire to keep them in. It’s a very good idea to provide them with something to perch on (sticks from the backyard will do). It was quite delightful to watch our little fledglings master this important chicken skill. When the babies are fully feathered (at about five weeks old), they are ready to try the coop. We let them play out there in the coop and run for a few hours each day to get used to it. Then after about a week of this (provided the nights are reasonably warm by this point), they are ready for their permanent relocation. At first you must physically put them into their sleeping quarters before you close them in for the night. But in a few days’ time, they readily go in at sundown and will keep up this habit for the rest of their lives. The most important aspect of the coop and run are that they are predator-proof. We were given a small coop from some friends who were expanding their flock and getting a bigger coop (this is called “chicken-math”). It’s sort of like potato chips. Once you have a few you just keep craving more and more. The little coop is a safe place for the chickens to sleep, all closed-up and safe for the night, but they need to have someplace to run around during the day. We live in an area replete with racoons, foxes, coyotes, fisher cats (large weasels), hawks, and others who would just love a good chicken meal, so we did not feel comfortable letting them free-range throughout the day. To that end we used old pallets and other lumber to build a 12’ x 16’ structure around the coop for them to safely play in during the day. We surrounded it with sturdy hardware cloth (the product called “chicken wire” is not strong enough to keep a hungry predator out). We also extended the wire on the ground for 18” around the enclosure to discourage digging animals. Now all we need to do is to keep their feeder and water bottle full, clean out their coop once a week and collect the beautiful eggs each day. Unlike the typical brown or white eggs sold in grocery stores, different breeds of chickens lay a variety of colors ranging from light blues and greens to dark chocolaty browns, and some even add speckles for added artistic effect. In addition to their straight chicken feed fare, we spoil our chickens with a daily snack of all kinds of treats. Some of their favorites include greens, cantaloup, chickpeas (aptly named it seems), sunflower seeds, meal worms, oatmeal, bread, and spaghetti. The list goes on and on. Although we do not free-range them on a daily basis, we do let them out of their enclosure for occasional outings. We do this a few hours before sunset, as they naturally will return to their coop to sleep in the evening, so we do not have to try to wrangle them back inside. This is obviously a risk (predator-wise) but so far, we haven’t had any disasters. And it is so fun to watch them enjoying their adventures! I highly recommend raising chickens to anyone who has the space (and it doesn’t take much) and the inclination to do so. You won’t be disappointed! Our sweet feathered friends give us many moments of joy and serenity in our little haven away from a world sorely lacking in these things. And that old chicken-math just might get to you too. I know it has for us. We are already contemplating how we can get our hands on a bigger coop. A long, long time ago, after the birth of her third child, Victoria made the life-changing decision to leave the work world behind and devote herself to being a full-time mom and homemaker. Along with her new title of Domestic Engineer, she took on the role of the Chief Home Economist for the family. At first, it was scary to try to live on less than half their income, but Victoria found that she not only rose to the challenge but thrived in the enjoyment of learning to live their best life with limited resources. She embraced this new frugal lifestyle of the at-home-mom and went on to add a fourth child to the mix. And their family was complete. Along the way she acquired a great deal of wisdom in how to not only avoid debt, but pay off mortgages early, buy cars for cash, travel on a shoe-string budget, and send kids to college with no student loans, all while also saving a tidy nest egg for retirement. She currently educates others in these skills through her business Bright Future. Now living the life of a modern homesteader in the Hudson Valley, New York, Victoria has added gardening to her list of skill sets as she grows many of her own vegetables to supplement her family’s primarily vegan diet. And she has come to realize that this waste-not, want-not, carbon-friendly, sustainable life she is living is not only benefiting her own family but also our Mother Earth, and that each of us has the obligation to live a responsibly sustainable life not only for ourselves, but for the greater good of our community, and our planet. We can all do this one household and backyard at a time. We are the world! And it all begins right at home. Victoria can be reached at brightfuture2budget4@gmail.com

By Andy Borowitz May 31, 2022 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a chorus of derision, leading Republicans ripped the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s proposed freeze on handgun sales as an “insane” and “illogical” response to gun violence. “With all due respect, Prime Minister Trudeau’s so-called solution to gun violence is misguided, at best,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “There is no verifiable link between guns and shooting.” The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, shared McConnell’s view. “Canada’s solution to gun violence ignores the fact that people who shoot people inside buildings first have to enter those buildings,” he said. “The problem isn’t guns—it’s doors.” Senator Ted Cruz, also of Texas, could barely contain his contempt for Trudeau’s plan. “So Trudeau thinks that you can reduce gun violence by reducing the number of guns?” Cruz said. “Earth to Justin!”

By John Rolfe / Red Hook, N.Y. There are many shortages in this world, but words describing the Tucker Carlson phenomenon are not among them. An independent voter who admittedly leans left on social issues, I’ve always been well aware of Carlson’s incendiary comments, particularly about race replacement theory and his sympathy for Vladimir Putin. I’d just never felt compelled to watch his Fox News show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” or even a segment of it until last week, as I prepped for this piece. All I can say is a full dose of Carlson’s sneering frat-boy persona (some people claim he’s merely the Right’s answer to political humorist-commentators Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart), childish Trumpian insults of anyone whose views he dislikes, and his relentless Us vs. Them messages (Liberals hate you; world government, leftist elites, immigrants and people of color are coming to take what you have) made me fear for the future of this country even more than I already do. Unfortunately, it’s easy to see Carlson’s phenomenal appeal. The sheer simplicity of his often-exaggerated and frequently false claims is mind candy for people whose response to challenges to their beliefs runs no deeper than a laugh emoji. Carlson is the gold standard of commentators for anyone who doesn’t want to contemplate the gray areas and complexity of major issues or examine their own behavior, let alone admit they’ve been wrong about anything. There are an awful lot of folks like that. Carlson hosts the most popular cable news show in history, with an average of more than 3 million daily viewers. Millions more follow him on social media. (On the off-chance that you’ve somehow managed to ignore the voice and face of modern conservatism, and for the sake of not devoting a lot of time and space to background, I urge you to read The New York Times’ recent series on Carlson, “American Nationalist." I must admit I was shocked by Carlson’s show on May 25, the day after the horrific shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex. Oh, I fully expected his boilerplate excoriation of Joe Biden for “dividing the country” and “defiling” the deaths of the 19 kids and two adults by “raising Democrat talking points” on gun control, but Carlson, after countering with Republican talking points, actually spent a few minutes pointing out that America needs to address some other important factors beyond guns: the alienating and deleterious effects the Internet and psychoactive drugs such as widely used antidepressants are having on our society. Of course, it doesn’t occur to Carlson or many on the Right that making highly efficient killing machines easily available in an alienated society riddled with anger and mental health issues is not the wisest thing. With his stature and influence, Carlson could do great good for a nation in sore need of calming voices that promote thoughtful reconciliation, common cause and common ground. Not that his audience would let him. FOX News’ ratings took a steep dive last year after some of its personalities dared to criticize Donald Trump, who was booed at one of his own rallies for simply suggesting that people take Covid vaccines that he facilitated with his Operation Warp Speed program in 2020. And there is no irony deficiency in FOX News’ claim that “’Tucker Carlson Tonight' is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and group think” or the fact that Carlson is actively fueling America’s dire state of discord while he accuses Biden of dividing the country. A rigid, hostile approach to those who disagree with you—now the norm in politics, media and daily life— makes thoughtful discourse, compromise and acceptance impossible. All it creates is entrenched animosity. And Carlson’s show constantly drives home to his viewers that they should quickly dismiss other points of view or facts and events that blow holes in his arguments and their own beliefs. Carlson’s straight-faced claims that Jan. 6 merits “barely a footnote” in American history, and that people voted for Biden because they wanted liberals to shut up, are so absurd they make any rational, thinking person’s eyes roll right on out the door. But Carlson and FOX News are merely giving their people what they want and demand. That is the most disturbing thing. Like Trump and his ilk, Carlson is a reflection of a huge segment of America that only wants to hear what it wants to hear, believe what it wants to believe, and attack people it wants to see as scapegoats. Carlson, who may very well believe the poison he spews, is a lucrative creature of the Fox News business model that has been growing in power and influence since Rush Limbaugh started the modern conservative talk show and narrative in the 1980s. What we have now is an insidious and deeply entrenched feedback loop. Carlson’s audience has been fed a “liberals are always evil and must be defeated” message for 40 years. I'm sure there are some converts but I believe that many already felt this way and they thrill to hearing their voice come from a major public figure like a Limbaugh, a Carlson or a Sean Hannity. This audience will accept no deviation. So I have to chuckle at calls to have Carlson fired for his racist and anti-immigrant remarks. Really? Fox News would fire its Golden Goose? There's nothing he can do or say that would cause that to happen ... except, probably, reject or sharply criticize the GOP machine and its talking points. He'd have to pull a Liz Cheney or a Madison Cawthorne. He's not that big a fool. He knows who butters his brioche. Carlson, who has acknowledged the power of propaganda, is a master proprietor of it. He and the Murdoch family (the owners of Fox News) and many other powerful figures on the Right are harnessing an army of scared, enraged citizens that began to manifest itself on Jan. 6. What incentive does Carlson have to do other than what he is doing? His current formula brings him a reported annual reward of anywhere from $6 million to $30 million, plus enormous fame and power. Even though some sponsors have fled screaming, he remains FOX News’ ad-revenue cash cow, the flagship of the network’s proudly trumpeted business model. And if he were to vanish tomorrow, someone else would take his place the same way he took Limbaugh’s mantel as the right-wing’s preeminent spokesman. Carlson is a glaring example of the outrageous money to be made in maintaining America’s dysfunctional status quo. Whether it be bitter sociopolitical polarization, environmental pollution, over-reliance on debilitating medication, the proliferation of guns, or popular technology that fosters alienation, a lot of people will be put out of business if our most pressing problems are ever significantly improved let alone solved. The reality is that Carlson’s brand of all-or-nothing confrontation is driving America to an explosion of mindless, neighbor-on-neighbor violence of the kind and scale that ravaged the Balkans and Rwanda in the 1990s, taking hundreds of thousands of lives. Such madness is fueled by messages like the ones Carlson peddles that excite and embolden his audience: You belong to our righteous tribe; they are your enemy and not real Americans; compromise is not an option. I expect chaos to grow after the midterms in November and be more fully unleashed after the presidential election in 2024. For a sense of what is coming, consider what would have happened if the Jan. 6 insurrection had succeeded and Trump had remained in power. The ensuing nationwide protests would have resulted in violent clashes with right-wing militias and sympathizers, attempts by Trump to brutally repress them, and civil war. The tragic truth is it’s much easier and profitable to hate and fight than it is to think carefully and accept that our problems will require a long period of concerted cooperation on many fronts. America’s democracy might have a fighting chance (pardon the pun) if there was more desire for — and great financial incentive in — being thoughtful, patient, empathetic, kind, generous, tolerant, accepting, well-informed and intelligent. But there isn’t. Just look at Tucker Carlson. 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.

By Sienna Beck / New York City I don’t even know how to describe the terrible shooting in Texas. My mom told me the news and I’m like, you’re kidding. She tells me she’s not, and I stop breathing for multiple seconds. I have different feelings about this tragedy, and I cannot decide between them. One hand tells me to be relieved I wasn’t there. My second hand tells me to worry about those people who died. I can’t decide. It’s such a dumbfounding notion, you know, that it actually can’t be decided. But my mom says it’s okay to have different feelings about it at the same time. I still get nightmares about the shooting. Writing about it sends pictures to my mind, and pictures to my mind get so tragic I can’t even describe it. Getting the details more and more every day, the pictures become clearer. Not all parents tell their children about tragedies like this one. My mom asked me yesterday morning, “Should I tell you things like this?” I said, ‘Yes--though it’s tragic, I don’t want to be hidden from anything or be left out.” My school is prepared for things like this. We have things called “lockdown drills,” where we go to one corner of the classroom where no one can see us, turn off the lights, lock the door, and close the curtains. So if someone bad is loose in the building, and the loudspeaker shouts either “Light lockdown!” or “Hard lockdown!” we will know what to do (even in the bathroom, believe it or not). I researched a little bit online on my own about the shooting. I found the names of the 19 kids who were killed (and I bet several more were injured or hurt badly) and two teachers who passed away. Both teachers were in their 40s, and the kids ranged from 9 to 11, basically my own age. That’s scary. Under the name and picture of each kid was a small description. Almost all of them said memorial things like “Eliahna could bring the smile to your face” or “I will always remember Makenna’s smile” that actually made me cry. The next morning I asked my mom, “What was the gunman’s name?” We looked it up together. He was a “mentally crazy” (mom’s quote) 18-year-old. Now I really want to be president, pass one million laws about guns, littering, assassinating, and all the other threats you can think of and make the world a much better place. Sienna Beck is a 9-year-old author who loves writing short stories. She goes to a camp called Writopia, and once entered a play contest and was selected to have her play professionally performed by trained actors. Sienna has two sisters, Willa and Olive, and they all go to P.S. 87 in New York City. Sienna likes animals, including pets and mostly dogs. She also wants to be THE PRESIDENT when she grows up.

By Jessie Seigel / Washington, D.C. Tapestry of the tragedy in Uvalde Here we go again. The lives of 19 young children and two dedicated teachers were snuffed out last Tuesday by yet another mass murder perpetrated by a teenaged assailant with an assault rifle, this one at an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas. The U.S. has suffered more than 200 mass shootings so far this year alone, 27 of them in schools. And what do we get, yet again, from Republican politicians who, in service to their NRA financiers, continue to block any gun-control legislation? Thoughts and prayers. Prayers and thoughts. Along with more than a dollop of pap about “healing and hope” for the “brokenhearted.” How kind of them. How feeling. From Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, delivered on the Senate floor the day after the shootings, we got: “The entire nation’s hearts are broken for the victims and for their families. Words simply fail.” But, of course, McConnell did add words, pronounced with pompous sanctimony: “We pray fervently that, in the midst of this nightmare of grief, our Heavenly Father will make manifest to those families His promise in Psalm 34, that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” However, it is Mitch McConnell who has consistently led his party to block any gun-control measures that might have prevented the plague of mass murders, including this one, that this country has suffered. On the day of the shooting, Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz quickly issued the following press release: “Heidi and I are lifting up in prayer the entire Uvalde community during this devastating time and we mourn the lives that were taken by this act of evil. None of us can imagine the anguish the parents in Uvalde are going through. Our hearts go out to them.” But as the gun reform advocacy organization Giffords tweeted, Cruz has blocked “even the most commonsense gun reform at every turn.” And then there’s Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s press conference the day after the shooting. Sitting on a dais with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on his right, a host of law enforcement representatives to his left, along with Ted Cruz and others standing behind him, Abbott went on and on about how it is “intolerable” and “unacceptable” to have anybody in Texas kill little kids in “our schools,’ and how “All Texans must come together and support the families.” Abbott spoke vehemently and loudly, all but pounding the table. But his well-feigned outrage can’t disguise the fact that in 2021, he signed into effect seven laws loosening gun-control restrictions, including those making Texas a so-called Second Amendment sanctuary state protecting Texans from any new federal gun-control regulations, and allowing Texans to carry guns without a license or training. When Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is running for governor against Abbott, had the guts to break into the flow of Abbott’s news conference, calling out these hypocrites on their crocodile tears, they of course accused him of playing politics. O’Rourke rightly said, “The time to stop the next shooting is right now, and you are doing nothing. You’re offering us nothing.” And he warned that another mass killing will happen. O’Rourke was met with a chorus of “You’re out of line and an embarrassment,” from Dan Patrick and “Sir, you’re out of line” from Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin. The mayor, a Republican, also declared that Beto was a “sick son of a bitch who would come to a deal like this to make a political issue.” But that’s what the press conference was—a political effort, using false sympathy to whitewash the Republican refusal to permit any regulation of assault weapons that would have saved these children and victims to come. Furthermore, the participants were intent on shutting down any attempt to address the real issue with the usual claim that such talk is politicizing pain and suffering. But politicizing pain and suffering is precisely what Abbott and his brethren were doing at that news conference. After O’Rourke was ejected from the room, Abbott intoned, “We need to focus on the healing and hope that we can provide to those who have suffered unconscionable damage to their lives and loss of life. We need all Texans in this one moment in time to put aside personal agendas. Think of somebody other than ourselves, think about the people who are hurt. And help those who have been hurt.” But Abbott’s job is not to direct us to “healing and hope.” His job is to prevent the next massacre necessitating healing. And the real Abbott—his callousness about the loss of life from gun violence—was demonstrated in his 2015 tweet: “I’m EMBARRASSED: Texas#2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let’s pick up the pace Texans.” While they use misdirection to distract us from their part in the horror, McConnell, Cruz and Abbott have made sure to collect their 30 pieces of silver. According to Brady United, a nonprofit organization advocating for gun-regulation reform, McConnell has taken nearly $1.3 million in campaign contributions from the NRA. Cruz has received over $176,000 By comparison, Abbott came cheap, at $13,700. Protestors angrily gathered outside of the NRA Convention a few days after the school shootings Despite the slaughter last Tuesday, by Friday the NRA went ahead with its convention. True to their natures, neither Donald Trump nor Ted Cruz had even the thimble of grace required to forego attending and speaking there. Trump’s speech sounded as if the NRA had written every word of it for him. And Cruz had the nerve to begin his speech saying he was there to speak “on the nature of evil.” Considering his political history, that is a subject Cruz clearly knows a lot about. Trying to hide from public wrath and still satisfy his patrons, the duplicitous Abbott did not attend in person, but addressed the convention from a safe distance in a video. But what the hell! If Abbott et al want the thoughts and prayers of Texans and the nation, let’s give them what they’ve asked for. Let us pray for the souls of Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott and Donald Trump—that they may repent their devil’s bargain with the gun lobby. That Mitch McConnell may find his missing humanity and stop leading his party in blocking any gun regulation. While we are at it, let us pray for the soul of each and every member of the Republican party in the United States House and Senate—that they may all find their missing humanity and stop their empty ritual of offering thoughts and prayers each time there is a mass shooting. And that they will stop politicizing gun violence by squelching any talk of reform. Oh. Right. It’s too late. They’ve already sold their souls to the NRA and the armaments industry, apparently in an iron-clad contract. Prayers for a change in their souls or hearts is therefore useless. Then let’s keep them in our thoughts. Let us keep the Republican Party’s aiding and abetting of mass murder in our thoughts when we go to vote in November. 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 Naomi Serviss / New York City America has lost its mind. We’re Frankenstein’s monster, lit by bloodlust and hate. With easy access to death machinery, itching for slaughter. One putrescent blob of rotten humanity planned a scorched-earth child and teacher massacre. Armed to the teeth, a teenage-brained psychopath jones-ing for martyrdom’s victory carnage turned 18. Legally bought war tools. This miscreant stewed in Dante’s earthly inferno, egged on by replacement theorists’ sack of bullshit. A codified manifesto for snuffing school kids. Their colleagues toe the NRA party line. Lining the coffers of pay-to-play Republicans. Slick as an Exxon leak. When President Clinton banned assault rifles in 1994, mass shootings declined by 43 percent. Republicans allowed the ban to expire in 2004. Shootings increased by: 243 percent! What is the problem, people? Nothing new under the sun. Money makes the world go round. Private donors grease politicians’ palms like there’s no tomorrow. For 19 children and two teachers, there was no tomorrow. While children screamed for help and panic-stricken called 911, cops stood idly by outside the school. Following orders. Then they lied about the shooter being barricaded. Students were safe, they reported. Ignoring frantic death throe pleas from babies crying for their mothers. How many children’s lives could have been saved if the police had stormed the school and mowed down the offending parasite? After all, according to some (particularly skeevy) Republicans, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Except when the so-called good guys are too stupid to think for themselves, ignore orders and storm the damn school! Where are the honest, upworthy Republicans? Bueller? Anybody? Snake-oil Republicans should read this young teacher’s recent tweets: As long as the NRA revels in the murder business, we should be very afraid terrified in schools, stores, supermarkets, churches, synagogues, malls and at Little League games. Repetition is warranted. I can’t quit this anguished question: WHY IS THIS STILL HAPPENING? Are we already over Ukraine? Was Ukraine merely a distraction from America’s true enemy-- Itself? We’re armed to the gills, ready to kill for: What, exactly? Are people that stupid, ignorant and racist? Rhetorical question.

It’s harder to adopt a dog Than to buy a handgun or an AR-15. Why not? It’s a free country! YOU get an AR-15! And YOU get an AR-15! The elementary-school slaughter occurred just as my family prepared to fly to Marina del Rey, California, for a much-delayed reunion. The excited/scared/anxious symptoms. kicked in. Then Uvalde. This assault felt different, like a crusty scab pulled off prematurely. We’re still reeling from Buffalo’s supermarket slaughter. How could this happen? How to compartmentalize thoughts of Ukraine Afghan women Climate disaster 19 children and two gunned-down teachers We flew out of Newark at 8:30 a.m. and touched down at LAX by 12:30 p.m. Serviss tribe members trickled into the hotel, some from the East Coast, most from the West. The elephant in the room, Uvalde, was confronted, We shared revulsion, tears, anger and depthless grief. Our reunion was not only for familial backslapping. It was to allocate funds for charitable organizations chosen by our small foundation. We were powerless to turn back time. and stop the executioner from slaughtering little Texas kids. Although that’s all we wanted to achieve. Instead, some of us will volunteer at a homeless women’s shelter for an afternoon. The days are warm but not summer-hot, a refreshing breeze wafting off the Bay, mingles with a lone seal vocalizing into the morning mist. In two days we’ll be flying home on a jet plane counting our blessings that our children are long past school age. 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

A Poem by Dr. Barry Lubetkin / New York City Survivors–Memories forever scarred by images of horror. Friends without faces, torn like paper dolls. Terror, as they crawled through broken windows with glass piercing their child skin. Bullet sounds remembered with panic every time a car backfires or a door slams. Parents–The anguish of wondering, “Did I say ‘I love you’ when I dropped her off?” Choosing the tiniest of coffins and burying a thousand moments of pride and joy. Raging at the incompetence and cowardice of neighbors who wore police badges. Weeping tears unknown before, while stroking a teddy bear who has lost its best friend. America–Shamed and sickened by a government of 50 soulless officials, Who, like dogs slobbering for a bone, await their next check from the NRA. 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 Andy Borowitz May 26, 2022 AUSTIN (The Borowitz Report)—A rattled Greg Abbott described for reporters the moment of abject terror that he endured when the gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke suddenly talked to him. “Without warning, out of nowhere, there he appeared, saying things,” the Governor of Texas said. “I’m still shaking just thinking about it.” Accusing O’Rourke of hiding behind the First Amendment, Abbott asserted, “That amendment was written in the eighteenth century and was intended for use only in times of war, such as when Paul Revere warned that the British were coming.” Abbott said that he would secure twenty-four-hour police protection to shield himself from future terrifying incidents of O’Rourke speaking, and that he would take measures to safeguard fellow-Texans from similar outbursts. One measure under consideration is a two-week waiting period between O’Rourke thinking of something to say and being permitted to say it, aides to the Governor confirmed. “The No. 1 problem facing Texas today is Beto O’Rourke making sudden, unprovoked comments,” he said. “We must pass new, strict laws to protect Texans from Beto O’Rourke’s sentences.”