By Victoria Rolfe / Red Hook, NY The frosty winter months are just around the corner now, and the spectacular display of autumn leaves is falling to our feet to blanket the ground around us. By this time of the year, the vegetable garden is for the most part tucked in for the season. Meanwhile, we still have those aforementioned leaves on the ground to contend with. If you have been in the habit of bagging your leaves for curbside pick-up or other such disposal, now is the time to break that habit. Unlike other bad habits, this one is pretty easy to break. The only “patch” you will need is a (free) one right in your own backyard. Start a leaf mulch pile. For leaf composting, there are no secret formulas to learn or bins to construct. All you need to do is choose an out-of-the-way location on your property and start piling. It is best to mulch the leaves by running them over with a lawnmower a few times before tossing them on the pile. This will result in a quicker breakdown process. In a year’s time that pile will be considerably smaller and beneath it you will be rewarded with beautiful rich crumbly leaf mold that you can use to add organic goodness to your garden. Start a compost pile. In addition to saving your leaves, this is a great time to get started on your very own compost pile if you do not already have one. The system you set up can be as simple or elaborate as you like. It can also be as cheap or expensive as you desire, the least of which would be free. Again, an out-of-the-way location (though preferably close to your garden) is all that is required. You can just start piling your yard debris and kitchen scraps directly on the ground, or you can create a simple receptacle for them, using perhaps an old garbage can with holes drilled into the bottom and sides for aeration and drainage, or a piece of chicken wire bent into a circle of about 3’ in diameter with some stakes to anchor it to the ground. Another inexpensive way to construct a compost container is to utilize old wood pallets to make a three-sided box with the front left open for adding material and scooping out the finished compost. If you enjoy spending money, there are all manner of ready-made sometimes elaborate compost systems to be purchased from anywhere you can purchase garden supplies. The basic elements that your compost pile will need to do its work are air circulation, water, and materials to break down (your yard debris and kitchen scraps). The insects and microorganisms required for the process will come naturally, free of charge! The simple formula for ideal breakdown is three parts “browns” (carbon) to one part “greens” (nitrogen). Browns are such things as shredded leaves, dried grass clippings, wood chips, sawdust, paper, and cardboard. Greens are your fresh yard debris, kitchen scraps, and manure ( don’t be confused by the color--manure is a “green” because it is rich in nitrogen content). If you do nothing more than throw these materials together in a corner of your yard, they will eventually break down into compost. All other guidelines and instructions that you hear about compost care are pretty much directed toward the goal of facilitating that breakdown for a speedier result (or sometimes to keep it odor free). To that end, you can do such things as maintaining a proper moisture level (about the consistency of a wrung-out sponge) or chopping pieces as small as possible to create more surface area for breakdown or turning your pile every so often to facilitate better air circulation. How much (or little) time and money you choose to spend on your compost pile is entirely up to you. But if you are going to be a gardener, especially a thrifty gardener, turning your own kitchen scraps and yard debris into beautiful compost gold is a must. It just does not make sense to forgo that lovely free resource right in your own backyard. And as a plus, you will be saving the landfills from all that kitchen garbage. A win-win all around! If you already have a leaf or compost pile going, now is a perfect time to put that black garden gold to good use. Before one garden season draws to a close, the dedicated gardener already has her sights set on next spring! Now is a great time to amend your beds with a layer of compost or leaf mulch . Even better than that, have you been dreaming of a new bed? (For your plants that is). Well, this is the perfect time to lay down that cardboard and start piling on your “lasagna” layers. For a refresher course on making a new bed, lasagna-style, refer back to Weed it and Reap: Getting Down in the Dirt. Nothing left to do but peruse the seed catalogs with visions of summer’s exquisite backyard confectionery until it’s time to sow our seeds again for next years’ garden delights. And now I bid you all a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that your table is beautiful and bountiful and graced with some of the fresh wholesome vegetables that you grew right in your own yard! If you have planted such cold-hearty crops as Brussels sprouts, kale and winter squash, you may still be able to bring something in fresh from the garden for your Thanksgiving dinner. How cool is that? It’s certainly something to be grateful for. Happy Holidays and Bon Appétit! Victoria Rolfe has had a love of gardening all her life, from the time she was a tiny child coveting the daffodils growing in her neighbor’s yard (and wondering why she couldn’t have them in her own), to her teenage years when she took her pot experimentation in a different direction by growing the seeds she extracted from the bag into a beautiful marijuana plant on her bedroom windowsill. She went on in her adult years to feed her family by growing a huge and bountiful vegetable garden, as well as beautifying her three-acre property with an array of ornamental trees, bushes and flowers in the magnificent Hudson Valley region of New York. Victoria learned a great deal in the process of all this plant experimentation. She then added to that knowledge by taking courses with the Cornell Cooperative Extension to become a Master Gardener Volunteer. In her volunteer capacity, she helps to educate the public on gardening through classes and information booths, most notably at the Dutchess County N.Y. Fair each August. Throughout the summer months, Victoria is most likely to be found among the weeds, either in her own garden or those of others who actually pay her to play in their dirt and do the thing she loves best, delight in the magical world of gardening. Victoria is not only a gardening aficionado; she is also passionate about helping people live a better life on less money. Visit her website and blog at brightfuture2budget4.weebly.com, or email her at brightfuture2budget4@gmail.com.

By Sienna Beck / New York City I was just a normal city kid in Manhattan, walking up and down streets, playing at parks, living in an apartment building, doing normal things. But in early 2020, a virus occurred, called coronavirus, or Covid-19. We had to wear masks over our mouths and noses. People had to go remote, which means either on a device, or asynchronous. My family rented a house in the Poconos for four months to keep us safe for a while. While we were there, a lot of things happened. I was in second grade and had many questions like “What is this?” “What caused this?” “What does it do?” As I passed second grade and summer arrived, we went home. I did third grade on my computer. Finally, the Covid vaccination was approved for adults. What is a vaccine? A vaccine prevents something from getting really bad. Like the flu vaccine everybody gets once a year prevents the flu from getting too bad. So many adults got vaccinated. What about kids? That wasn’t fair! Kids were held back from doing a lot of things like having indoor playdates. I couldn’t see my friends except over Zoom. And so as third grade passed by and I slowly switched schools from P.S. 84 to P.S. 87 for fourth grade, I became more and more anxious to know when the kid one was to come out. They said it was to come out “in late October,” but it never came. Where was it? Who knew? I wanted to know. Nobody had an answer. On November 2nd, a Tuesday, after school, Mom announced some news with a huge smile on her face. “The kid vaccine came out!” she said. I was like, “What??!??!!? IT CAME OUT?” Everybody was grinning from ear to ear. Everybody couldn’t wait. Everybody but my middle sister Willa, who really dislikes shots. My youngest sister Olive and I made a deal with her and said that “Olive goes first, and Sienna could go second, so you can be last.” Willa was happy with that. Every adult with kids hurried to get an appointment to get the shot. Lots of our friends were doing it at the American Museum of Natural History, which is only 10 blocks from our apartment, so we decided to give it a go. It was Sunday morning. Daylight savings time had switched overnight, so we woke up at what had used to be 7:30 a.m. but was now 6:30 a.m. Silently we crept into the living room and drew pictures. When Mom woke up, we all had a little snack and continued to play. Soon though, Mom (and Dad, who had just woken up) called us to start getting ready. We were going to try again to get our vaccine shots (We had stopped by the museum on Saturday midday, but they said we had to come much earlier as walk-ins). So Willa, Olive and I got bundled up in our coats and hats and gloves, and we took off. We arrived at the Natural History Museum at 8:35 a.m. for the 10 a.m. opening. We went down the ramp and joined the line of walk-ins. We learned shortly after that we were eighth in line. Mom let us watch videos on our iPads, so as soon as I got mine, I played a couple games. While we were playing, Mom went to get us egg sandwiches, which we ate while we waited. An hour of waiting later, a woman told the line we would be assigned times to come back to do it. We got 11 a.m., so we spent an hour playing nearby in the playroom at my grandmother’s building. This was special because her building hadn’t let us play in the playroom for the past year because of Covid! When we got back, numbers 9, 10, and 11 were ahead of us. Number 10 got to go in first (who cared anyway?) but numbers 9 and 11 were generous and let us go ahead. We waited in a long line for fifteen minutes and then were hustled into a busy room filled with booths of other people getting their shots, too. We got one in the very back with a woman called Bello (pronounced: BEL-low). Another man started taking our information on his iPad. That took about fifteen minutes (again). Olive was brave for the shots and volunteered to go first. I called second, and Willa was happy to be the last one. Olive scrunched up her face as the needle went through her arm (none of us cried, though), and then it was my turn. I tensed up my body and my mom literally busted my brain talking to me (it distracted me, for while she was blabbering I got the shot) but I did it. A minute later I wandered over to the room in the museum with the Big Whale, but just the entrance, so my mom could see me. We bumped into one of my friends, Charlotte, who had also just gotten her shot. Willa, Olive and I then disappeared into the “waiting section.” A man led us to three seats overlooking the giant whale. There we opened our prizes (crayons and stickers) and occupied ourselves before we were able to leave. (My mom was scheduling our second shot for November 28th and also signing us up for our $100 gift card from NYC!) On our way home, my left arm stopped hurting. My dad cheered for us as we broke into the playroom in our building. Our close friends Alisha, Michael, Ari, Sybil, and Max did too. “Yayy!” said Alisha. Soon, Olive and I complained that we were tired, so we completed our adventure by going upstairs and collapsing on a couch. I was tired, but glad that we got vaccinated. I never felt a pain in my shoulder after the shot. Of course, it hurt when I got it and ached when we walked home, but other than that I was fine. Unlike the flu shot, it never made me feel sore. With the flu shot, I tossed and turned uncomfortably a lot. But I actually FORGOT the Covid shot was even there at all! If you’re a kid reading this, I hope you get the vaccine! 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 Naomi Serviss / New York City Guilty confession: Being quarantined wasn’t all bad. Maybe 79% bad. The remaining 21% was tolerable. Mostly because I indulged in a favorite activity, bingeing movies. Sometimes I’d watch virtually with my daughter Emmy, whose tastes sync with mine, except for her horror proclivities. Reading Stephen King’s It when she was 10 tipped me off what to expect from my drama queen. Which is ironic, since Emmy signed a pledge not to ever watch scary movies after one particularly nightmare-producing flick freaked her out. So it goes. Coincidentally, around the same time, a plethora of cable sign-up promotions diabolically appeared on my laptop, designed to lure the likes of me. It worked. I signed up for as many free trial subscriptions as I could wrangle for access to even more flicks! Of course, it helps to cancel said subscriptions before being charged the regular price. Easier said than remembered. Even when placed on the calendar. Nearly all genres were in the mix: indies, noir, international, psychological thrillers and comedy. Plenty of comedy. Notice there was no mention of horror. Saw my fill as a child, not by choice. My oldest brother thought it would be appropriate to bring his 10-year-old sister to a matinee of Blood Beach. Feel free to visualize that epic. Psychological thrillers are more my speed. Especially Hitchcock movies with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. I’m still charmed by Twilight Zone episodes involving old-timers discovering the pleasures of childhood games like Kick the Can. Or stepping off the train into the old-fashioned town named Willoughby. But the thriller that still packs a campy wallop is an unforgettable, 1956 black-and-white film you may know: The Bad Seed, about a sociopathic, murderous preadolescent. The anti-Pollyanna. On a mission. Adapted from a smash Broadway play with the original cast, the film starred the adorable psychopath Rhoda Penmark, portrayed by Patty McCormack, and her long-suffering mother, played by Nancy Kelly. When I learned that Patricia McCormack was appearing in an off-Broadway production of Paul Osborne’s play, Morning’s at Seven, the die was cast. I knew we had to connect. Unfortunately, one of the principals, Judith Ivey, was injured and the opening was pushed back. So I wasn’t able to attend a performance before chatting with Patricia. McCormack’s storied career has spanned decades since she first terrified millions in her star-turn role. She’s been on Playhouse 90, worked with the likes of Ossie Davis, Teresa Wright, William Shatner, was the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and featured in scores of familiar television series and movies. McCormack was a precious nugget During the Golden Age of Television. Now she hears audiences laugh instead of gasp. The unanticipated opportunity to play off-Broadway came along because her fellow actor/friend Dan Luria suggested her for the part. “I swear it was a surprise,” McCormack said in a recent phone interview. “I’ve lived in L.A. for a long time And not been on a New York stage for a while. “Dan said they were looking for somebody and he threw my name in.” The opportunity came Towards the tail end of the quarantine. “I’m not young,” she laughed. “When is this going to happen again?” Four sisters and significant (or insignificant) others squabble, compete with and eventually come to terms with…no spoilers here! The schedule is intense, tough on everyone’s body clocks, McCormack added, regardless of age. The play is an uplift, Especially valued in this age of Covid uncertainty, she said. Her favorite Manhattan activities (when she has a breather) include browsing Macy’s and mindfully appreciating her New York moment. She credits her family of origin with easing her navigation through early fame. “I’ve always had a positive outlook, and got lucky with having a really grounded upbringing,” she said. The Bad Seed was mistakenly categorized as a horror movie. Au contraire! When first seen, the movie shocks. Subsequent viewings have provide ample opportunity to notice foreshadowing. If you haven’t had the pleasure, it’s a must-see for cinephiles. The Bad Seed may not have as many Rocky Horror quotable moments, but what it has is choice. Naomi Serviss is a New York-based award-winning journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Highroads (AAA magazine), in-flight publications, spa and travel magazines and websites, including BroadwayWorld.com

By Andy Borowitz November 10, 2021 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Kayleigh McEnany has rebuffed the subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6th attack, on the ground that she never worked at the White House. In a brusque statement, McEnany claimed that “there is only one word for anyone who suggests I was ever a White House employee: liar.” McEnany asserted that, contrary to the allegation of the congressional committee, “For the past five years, I have been assistant manager of an Enterprise Rent-a-Car branch in Las Vegas.” Having established that she was not in Washington on January 6th, she pointed the finger at several people who were. “The members of the January 6th committee have a lot of explaining to do,” she 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 John Rolfe / Red Hook, N.Y. Want to be accused of divisiveness? Try discussing racial issues. I write a weekly social-political column for the Poughkeepsie Journal (a USA Today Network newspaper) and know how the mere mention of race triggers emotions in readers that feed the stark either-or mindset of our politics. A prime example of that kind of thinking: the raging battle over what kids are taught about America’s troubled racial history and its current condition. Critical Race Theory (CRT), which posits that racism is embedded in America’s legal and economic systems is taught only at some law schools and colleges, but even mild efforts to promote understanding in grade schools are now being mistaken for CRT. Racial topics automatically alarm and anger parents fueled by politicians and commentators who aren’t helping anyone view the subject with clear eyes. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, who has more than four million viewers, irresponsibly admitted on the air last week that “I’ve never figured out what Critical Race Theory is, to be totally honest, after a year of talking about it,” adding that it probably teaches that one race (whites) is “evil” and another (Blacks) is “saintly.” To make matters worse, the Republican Party reportedly plans to make CRT a central issue in the 2022 midterm elections. GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin raised the specter of CRT earlier this month in his successful campaign in Virginia. Hundreds of books, including Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about slavery Beloved and Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give are being scrutinized by school boards and lawmakers across the country as passions rise. In September, the National School Board Association sparked an uproar on the right when it asked the Justice Department for protection against threats from parents directed at members and teachers. In October, two acclaimed graphic novels were targeted in Katy, Tex. New Kid (which won the Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature) and its sequel Class Act are about Black kids struggling to fit into a predominantly white, upper-class private school that has varied but small minorities. A parent claiming the books teach CRT and even Marxism campaigned to get them removed from her school district. They were, and author Jerry Craft’s scheduled talk with fourth- and fifth-graders was postponed … until the district reviewed the novels and restored them. Jerry then gave his planned talk: about how as a kid he was inspired by comic books to become a cartoonist. A friend and former colleague of mine, Jerry handled the incident with classy calm and was gratified when a counter-campaign by parents raised money to buy 100 copies of each book for local libraries and teachers. Unfortunately, portrayals of race are a Rorschach Test. Yes, in Jerry’s novels there is mild conflict between a white kid and Black protagonist Jordan Banks and his friend Drew, but no racial slurs or real violence. Some white teachers are awkwardly “woke” in a condescending way that undermines their best intentions, but innocent gestures — such as a white girl giving Drew a gift certificate for Kentucky Fried Chicken — are misinterpreted by kids of different races. “I got you a KFC gift certificate because, who doesn’t love KFC, right?” the girl says. Meanwhile, a lonely white boy from a wealthy family befriends Jordan and Drew, who help an eccentric, outcast white girl feel better about herself. A white art teacher recognizes Jordan’s talent and makes one of his paintings the cover of the school yearbook. A traffic stop makes Jordan’s dad extremely anxious, but the white cop turns out to be playfully friendly. Marxism? Class and wealth divides surely exist in America and are central themes in the books, but one Black character’s father is the CEO of a big corporation. There are kids’ questions about why some schools have few resources and others have everything, but Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto these novels are not. I worked with Jerry Craft for seven years at Sports Illustrated for Kids, where he created wonderful material with positive lessons. He recently told me he didn’t know what CRT was when he wrote New Kid and Class Act. He just wanted to fill a need for more books about Black kids that aren't merely ghetto survival tales. His are serious yet funny, semi-autobiographical, based on his sons’ experiences, and a realistic picture of our society. Unsettling truths in the books— Black kids reflexively assumed to be from broken homes, suspected of being shoplifters or given things solely because of their race and more easily accepted if their skin is light, Hispanic kids presumed to be Mexican — will make some readers uncomfortable, but discomfort can be necessary for reflection and change. What Are We Really Saying? The message I’ve long heard from many whites is that Blacks have been whining long enough, they should be content with what they’ve gained in the last 60 years, and we all get along until they complain. As a white man, I don’t believe I have the right or ability to speak for minorities. I don’t know what it’s really like to be one of them because I can’t live their reality. “As a man, I don’t know what it’s really like to be a woman and deal with sexism,” Jerry told me during our recent conversation. I grew up during the 1960s and ‘70s in the nearly all-white, upper-middle-class town of Garden City, Long Island. Blacks were routinely stopped by police when they drove or walked through town. My friends and I feared Black kids because we thought they would attack us. Turns out, in my 64 years I’ve never been assaulted or the target of a slur by anyone of another race, but I see how fear of minorities persists. Neighbors and co-workers have said things to me like “your kids should have children as soon as possible because America needs more whites before minorities take over and ruin the country.” While growing up, I was taught a simplistic “George Washington never told a lie” version of American history that underplayed the horrific tragedies of slavery, lynching, and segregation, not to mention the fate of Native Americans, the backlash against immigrants, and anti-Semitism. Not that I particularly cared. I was too focused on my own world and assumed “Indians” were evil savages and the North welcomed freed Blacks who were probably just lazy and prone to crime. A grade school friend who attended a Catholic school told me back then that he was taught that Jews have horns and tails. Those were the days many people now seem to long for, when supposedly you didn’t have to watch what you said about or to anyone. My friends and I trafficked in dumb ethnic jokes. I was called “N-word lips” because my lips were full. My parents weren’t overt in their racism, but they did look down on Blacks and Jews. An uncle by marriage was a raging bigot from Tennessee who flew into tirades when he saw Blacks on the street. I can’t recall the first time I ever really got to know a person of color. It may not have been until I started my professional career in journalism in the early ‘80s. But even as a kid I sensed something was profoundly wrong and unfair about what I was hearing from the people around me. What really bothers me now is how many Americans are responding to racial issues by using equivalence — other countries had slavery, Blacks in Africa sold each other into it, non-whites are racist and violent, too — to deflect and diminish what our white-dominated society has been doing for centuries. The Black Lives Matter movement was quickly branded as Communist and sneeringly dismissed with “Cold Beer Matters” lawn signs I see in the area where I live. Thoughtful and necessary reform of policing (which helps good cops) was buried in a landslide of misinformation and partisan rhetoric. The now all-too-common “two wrongs make a right” argument cites rioting in the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Blacks as justification for the January 6 attack on the Capitol. One of Donald Trump’s lawyers used it as a defense during Trump’s second impeachment. We Need To Talk Talking about all of this and achieving genuine understanding and change is difficult. As it is, people hate admitting mistakes or apologizing, and react as if they are guilty even when they aren’t. When I write columns about tolerance, diversity and acceptance, and people who are working to achieve such things, they and I are cynically accused of mere virtue signaling and scolding conservatives. When I hear that topics like slavery should be downplayed in schools because they make white kids feel bad, I wonder how many whites who say this even considered the feelings of Blacks who have to look at Confederate flags and statues of Confederate generals, or enter school buildings named after people who fought to deny them their rights. It’s bitterly ironic that “F--- Your Feelings” is a rallying slogan for Trump supporters. So now we have candidates across the country running for office on platforms that will again sanitize our knowledge and understanding of racism and its effects by stifling honest and detailed discussion. Relationship problems can’t be solved by avoiding them. When a loved one’s behavior is causing harm, you confront them because you love them and want them to be the best they can be. Your first exchanges will likely be angry and painful, but healing starts when a wound is cleaned and dressed. It’s not the talk that is divisive, it’s the behavior that made the talk necessary. Societies are really just human relationships writ large. The main message of New Kid and Class Act — everyone wants to be accepted and appreciated for who they really are — surely resonates with all kids in their natural quest to fit in. I agree with Jerry Craft, who said in an interview with NBC’s Click2Houston.com, “I think we still believe in the whole melting pot idea, where everyone gets melted down and reshaped into the same kid. I once heard someone use the idea of a salad, where lettuce gets to be lettuce, and the same for cucumbers, carrots … but together they make something wonderful while still maintaining their own identity.” New Kid and Class Act are also helpful for teaching kids to question the assumptions everyone makes about people. Kids are not likely to be taught honest, nuanced lessons about race solely at home when our society is so full of insulated political bubbles with narrow views. Stereotypes and assumptions will only persist without exposure to varied viewpoints born of experiences. Reality Checks Those who bristle at the phrase “white privilege” should read Evan Osnos’ new book Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury or Born a Crime, Trevor Noah’s autobiography of growing up under apartheid in South Africa. Both are vivid looks at the challenges and often dire consequences of being deprived of resources and opportunities in daily life. Imagine having to go to an academically deficient, violent school because your parents can’t afford the daily fares to a better, safer one, or if public transportation to that better school does not even exist in your area. As Noah writes, we are all told that if you give a man a fish he will eat for a day, but if you teach him to fish he will eat for a lifetime. “But what if he has no way of getting a fishing pole?” Noah asks. Kids need to learn to understand why America is still so full of racial tension and how we can defuse it. Our country shed institutions like slavery and segregation, but more must be done by the individuals who make up our systems, which are run by people. Racists such as a cop like Derek Chauvin, or judges who sentence people of color to disproportionately harsh prison terms, or lenders who deny minorities business loans or steer them into predatory mortgages on houses in economically depressed areas can have a tremendous ripple effect. The fact that something is being taught is not the key matter. It is HOW it is taught. Teaching difficult, disturbing but important subjects deserves care and thoughtful, civil discussion between teachers and parents, not over-simplified soundbites and politically expedient generalizations. Yet there is danger in giving equal weight to all sides. In Texas, where a new law requires teachers to present multiple views on racism, an administrator in the Carroll Independent School District caused an outcry by asking teachers for material on the other side to the Holocaust. Why? To argue there are merits to genocide? Those who deny that something like the Holocaust could never occur haven’t been paying attention to mankind’s history. Holocaust education is mandatory for kids in Germany and other countries that collaborated with the Nazis. It hasn’t been an easy process but Germans examine and learn to understand their worst behavior and why it happened without hating their country or each other. Some readers of my column accuse me of wokeness and hating America. I’m just disappointed, saddened and angered that we’ve often failed so miserably to live up to our highest ideals. I just don’t see how denying someone’s reality and perspective with kneejerk reactions and blanket legislation will help America achieve them. 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 Bonnie Fishman / San Francisco Bay Area The end of daylight savings time is upon us. Now it’s dark before you know it. Who doesn’t want to kick off their shoes, put on their jammies and get all cozied up for the night? And it’s only 5:30 p.m.! It’s gonna be a long night and an even longer winter. Do we feel like eating a summer salad for dinner? Nope. How about a light chicken sauté? Nah. Or even a piece of poached fish? Just not hearty enough. We’re looking for stick-to-your-ribs down-home comfort food. Did someone say macaroni and cheese? Heck yes! Many of us have fond childhood memories of their mom’s macaroni and cheese. Not me. I enjoyed my elbow or shell noodles with butter only. (Actually margarine, as we never had butter in our house for a reason I can’t explain). Many of us grew up on Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, first sold in 1937, shortly after the Depression. A cheap meal in a box, made with shelf-stable processed cheese, a game changer. Unfortunately, children only knew that version so when anyone tried to make it from scratch, there were frowns all around. Believe me, I tried this on my own kids. It was a real disappointment! Does that mean that after reaching adulthood, we are ready for the real deal? Let’s hope so, because macaroni and cheese has enjoyed an upscale revival for at least the past 20 years. We see all kinds of ingredients in mac ‘n cheese now with a variety of cheeses NOT including Velveeta, which was the go-to choice back in the day. Goat cheese for tang, Brie for richness, bleu for an unusual twist, Swiss for body. The array of proteins is staggering: sausage, chorizo, chicken, shrimp, crab, lobster. It’s almost like making up pizza toppings for the rich and famous. For example, Ruth's Chris Steak House offers a side of Lobster Mac ’n Cheese for $19.00 But the original macaroni and cheese was more pedestrian than these offerings. It was comprised of pasta, cheese, and butter. The story goes that Thomas Jefferson introduced the dish to America from Italy in the 1780s. He was so enamored with what he had dined on in Europe that he sent for an Italian pasta machine. Some reports say that his daughter, Mary Randolph, made pasta at Monticello, as evidenced in her cookbook, The Virginia Housewife, written in 1824. Another story is that Jefferson’s enslaved chef, James Hemings, was the one who put the dish on the map in the American South. Macaroni and cheese was a staple for low-income families, families who needed a quick hearty meal, but eventually elevated to white-tablecloth restaurants in the 21st century. In 2018, Smithsonian Magazine described this dual role as ‘the conundrum and beauty of mac and cheese. It is one person’s survival food, another person’s staple main course, and yet another person’s food of culture and celebration.” This May, Afro.com also found cultural significance in this meal: “Mac and cheese is truly the pinnacle of Black American dishes [and] culture. Macaroni and cheese is part of Black American’s journey. It’s not just a beloved American dish, but truly a staple for Black people.” You would be hard pressed to find a Southern American menu without macaroni and cheese, which has been a staple for almost two centuries. I have noticed there are two types of preparations: the “custard” style where eggs are used to bind the milk in the sauce and the classic béchamel sauce. When cheese is added to the latter, it becomes a mornay sauce. I am offering both techniques in my recipes today. My cousin Jeri’s recipe has been handed down through her family in Georgia. It is the egg and milk style. Jeri visited me last week here in California from Detroit, and I took the opportunity to learn her method. Boy, is it easy and delicious! My recipe is a classic béchamel; however I have jazzed it up with onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh spinach. If you want a good plain mac ‘n cheese, just omit these ingredients and you’ll be good to go! Keep in mind, you can completely alter the outcome of your mac ’n cheese by changing the flavor profile. Say, for example, you want a TexMex dish. When you sauté the onions and garlic, add a chopped poblano or red pepper along with chorizo. Continue with the milk thickening. When you’re done, fold in some grilled corn kernels and fresh cilantro. Use cotija cheese in place of the Parmesan. You get the picture. And let us know here at The Insider what delectable concoctions you come up with! Jeri’s Georgian Mac ’n Cheese Yield: 10-12 servings 1 lb. elbow macaroni 2 oz. butter 1 Tbs. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt 1 tsp. black pepper 2 tsp. chopped garlic 2 lg. eggs 4 c. packed shredded sharp cheddar cheese 3 c. whole milk Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for 8-10 minutes or according to the package instructions. Drain well in a colander. Do not rinse. Put the pasta in a 4-qt. casserole. Add the butter in chunks to melt. Sprinkle with Lawry’s, black pepper, and garlic. Crack both eggs into the dish, stirring around to mix through. Blend in the shredded cheese. Pour on the milk. Gently stir around the casserole to distribute evenly. Bake in a preheated 350° oven uncovered for 45-60 minutes, until the macaroni is firm and golden brown. Sun-Dried Tomato Macaroni and Cheese Yield: 10-12 servings 1 lb. elbow macaroni 2 oz. butter 1 c. minced onions 2 garlic cloves, minced scant 1/4 c. flour 1 qt. whole milk (use 2% for a lighter version) 1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes, chopped small (not in oil) 1 tsp. dry mustard 1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg 3 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese 3 c. baby spinach, packed 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black or white pepper extra grated Parmesan for topping Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for 8-10 minutes or according to the package instructions. Drain well in a colander. Rinse and drain again. Put pasta into a large bowl. Reserve. Grease a 4-qt. casserole. Preheat oven to 350°. While pasta is cooking over low heat, melt the butter in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Add the onions and garlic. Cook slowly until the onions are translucent but not colored, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes. Do not brown. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring as you go so as not to form lumps. Increase heat to medium. Bring the milk to a low boil, turn down to simmer. Add the tomatoes, dry mustard, and nutmeg. Continue to cook until the sauce is slightly thickened ,about 7-8 minutes. Do not boil heavily. Stir in the spinach, salt and pepper. Add the cheeses to the pasta. Pour the hot béchamel sauce onto the macaroni. Adjust the seasoning. Transfer to the casserole. Level the pasta with a spatula. Sprinkle the top with additional Parmesan. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. 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 Andy Borowitz November 8, 2021 SESAME STREET (The Borowitz Report)—Ted Cruz’s unprovoked attack on Big Bird has cost the Republican senator the support of a longtime backer, Oscar the Grouch. In a rare press conference at his trash can, Oscar said that he had supported Cruz’s political career for years “to show solidarity with a fellow-monster.” For Oscar, however, the dustup with the popular avian character raised concerns about further association with Cruz: “He could hurt my brand.” “Don’t get me wrong—I can’t stand Big Bird,” he said. “His relentless sunniness, to me, is intolerable. But that’s no excuse for Ted Cruz to go off like an asshat.” 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.

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 58 By Laurence Lerman / New York City Preempting my usual streaming rants, I wanted to offer a few words on two very likable actors on the sad occasion of their passing. They were both very reliable over the course of their professional careers, their performances always delivering well beyond what their not-always-sterling material demanded. Maybe that’s why they were given so many opportunities to make audiences sit up and take notice in the many years they appeared on screens large and small. First, the actress JoAnna Cameron, who portrayed a modern-day woman endowed with the powers of an ancient Egyptian goddess in the 1975 kids’ TV show Isis, died on October 15 in Oahu, Hawaii due to complications from a stroke. She was 73. Several days later, on October 18, veteran character actor Val Bisolgio died in his home near Los Olivos, California at the age of 95. Of his dozens of appearances in movies and TV shows over the course of his 40-year career, he’s probably most recognizable as the no-nonsense father of John Travolta’s Tony Manero in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever. It’s a role that found him famously slapping his well-coiffed son upside the head at the dinner table. Ms. Cameron’s Isis, who is generally acknowledged to be the first costumed female hero on television with superpowers, was perfect for her time: an empowered super heroine—her skirt wasn’t too short, her crime-fighting not too violent—who definitely came off as the sharpest and strongest person in the room. Cameron’s low-key, clear-voiced delivery and lean, athletic presence sold it. Cameron’s most notable credit prior to Isis was a featured role in one of the Seventies’ stranger cult pictures, the kinky and bizarre comic murder mystery Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971), directed by France’s sex kitten-embracing Roger Vadim (of 1956’s And God Created Woman and 1968’s Barbarella fame) and written, strangely enough, by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Starring Rock Hudson as a sexed-up high school guidance counselor who beds a bevy of beautiful female students before killing them (Ms. Cameron pops up as a senior who succumbs to all of his charms), it’s a movie that in today’s marketplace would be put out of its misery while it was still being pitched by a screenwriter. A handful of TV guest spots, a hundred commercials and a role in a forgotten Bob Hope movie notwithstanding, Ms. Cameron will be best remembered for Isis (aka The Secrets of Isis). Though she served as that falcon-bearing foe of evil for only two brief seasons, her powers reverberated for years to come. Lynda Carter would don a costume of her own in the popular primetime series Wonder Woman (1975) just a couple of months after Isis’s premiere. And that was followed a year later by Sid and Marty Krofft’s super-duper children’s series Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976) and the primetime smash The Bionic Woman (1976) starring Lindsay Wagner. Isis’s weekly defending of the defenseless also paved the way for the current wave of costumed female crime-fighters. Back in the day, the idea of slipping into a cape and leotard to portray a TV superhero didn’t hold the prestige that actresses like Scarlet Johansson and Elizabeth Olsen are enjoying today as the Marvel Cinematic Universe do-gooders Black Widow and The Scarlet Witch. But neither did they have to inject an overdose of moral complexity and emotional temperament into roles that began as very uncomplicated comic book figures. The new crop of superhero films does a marvelous job of expanding the emotional range of their larger-than-life characters, yes, but there was a time several decades back when that wasn’t the case and nobody seemed to mind. (That includes the target audience of kids and I was one at the time, so you can trust me on this one.) Like JoAnna Cameron, Val Bisoglio had a more identifiable face than he did a recognizable name. (Full disclosure: I wasn’t even aware of his name until I saw his picture ID’d in an online write-up of his passing.) But what a face! With a look that fell somewhere between wise guyish and world-weary, New York City native Bisoglio amassed several dozen film and TV appearances in the decade prior to his “breakout” as Travolta’s dad in Fever. He popped up in everything from the legendary TV sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1971) and All in the Family (1972) to the harder-edged detective shows Mannix (1971), Kojak (1974) and Toma (1975) to crime movies like The Don is Dead (1973) and St. Ives (1976). Usually, it was as a mobster or a crooked lawyer or some other tough-talking character from the lower depths. Bisoglio went the nice guy route for his recurring role as restaurateur Danny Tovo in the medical drama series Quincy M.E., which ran for eight seasons beginning in 1976. The show, which starred Jack Klugman as an L.A. country medical examiner, proved to be Bisoglio’s most successful gig. He continued to hop, skip and jump to a variety of TV shows for the remainder of the Eighties, moving into the new millennium. His final credits are for a trio of installments on The Sopranos in 2002, where he portrayed “Murphy “Murph” Lupo, an aging soldier and former capo of Junior Soprano’s New Jersey crime family. A gangster ‘til the end. Ms. Cameron and Mr. Bisoglio actually had a professional overlap, with both of them appearing on segments of the popular rom-com anthology show Love, American Style back in 1971. In his entry, Bisoglio played a jailbird looking to break out during his cellmate's conjugal visitation hour, while Cameron’s entry saw her as a newlywed whose honeymoon is ruined after she witnesses a bank robbery. I managed to track down their brief bits on the show (a combined effort involving both YouTube and Dailymotion) and watched them both. And I wasn’t surprised when the grin on each of their faces also brought a smile to my own. 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.

Opinion by Jeffrey D. Sachs | CNN.com November 5, 2021 Editor's Note: Jeffrey Sachs is a professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia Universit and president of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. His most recent book is "The Ages of Globalization" (Columbia University Press, 2020). The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author; view more opinion on CNN (CNN) - The Democratic Party's legislation in Congress is being whittled away to small-bore spending here and there, totaling far less than one percent of America's GDP. The corporate lobbies have been waging a relentless and largely successful battle against higher taxes on the corporations and the rich, even though the public supports increasing taxation on the wealthy to expand public spending on higher education, health care, families and the environment. Ours is a political system in which money counts and big money counts the most. Members of Congress will likely perceive going with the flow of big money as the takeaway from the Virginia governor's race, in which more than $115 million was spent on the campaigns, with financier Glenn Youngkin (estimated net worth at $440 million) triumphing. Since two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, are in agreement with the lobbyists against tax increases and other parts of the Democratic package (notably environmental protection in Manchin's case), the strong majority in the public for taxing the rich translates into a minority in the Senate. The result -- lobbyists triumphing over the public -- is also occurring on paid family leave, health coverage and needed action on climate change. On Tuesday, there was another typical announcement by the Democrats that a budget deal is imminent, with word that action to lower prescription drug prices -- highly popular with the public -- is back in the package after being taken out previously. On Wednesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she is putting a paid leave provision back into the House bill even though its future may be dim in the Senate. Like everything else about the package and the ostensible deal on drug prices, negotiations are behind closed doors -- which is the lobbyists' paradise, precisely where they can have maximum leverage. Americans understandably have very little confidence in Congress. In September, just 37% of the public accorded Congress a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence, compared with 71% back in May 1972, the earliest date reported by Gallup on this question. The skepticism is justified. There has been far too much backroom dealing, corporate lobbying and corporate funding of campaigns to have faith in Congress. Even though the original Democratic package was of profound benefit for working families -- on health care, paid leave, taxation, environment, energy and more -- the public was not provided with basic information about the proposals, though the lobbyists swarmed over every detail in the backrooms of Congress. There have been few policy papers, little or no testimony in Congress, and few assessments by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. While 100 Senators ostensibly represent 331 million Americans, we hear daily only about two -- that Manchin doesn't want this and Sinema doesn't want that. Suddenly, one day, higher corporate income taxes -- important and popular with the public -- are off the table because Sinema opposes them. Manchin scuttled President Joe Biden's clean power policy without public debate. Yet it's the Democratic Party's job, and Biden's job in particular, to beat a highly unpopular lobby that has poisoned the planet, not to surrender to it. Manchin says he acts to benefit the people of his state, but it's their true interests he should be serving. Manchin is utterly failing to do that. There is no state in the country more in need of Biden's transformative investments than West Virginia, the state with the lowest life expectancy in the country, and among the worst in educational quality. In a normal world, not America's corrupted politics, Manchin would be railing against corporate privileges and leading the charge against the super-rich, so that his state could have a decent future. We are told daily that since Biden has only 50 Democratic votes in the Senate, Manchin and Sinema hold all the cards, and that in effect the lobbyists have triumphed. Yet that is a disastrously defeatist perspective. It means surrendering on crucial measures without a fight, which is what Biden and the other Democratic leaders seem to be doing. Yet would Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman or Lyndon Johnson have folded their hands because a couple of Democratic senators were siding with lobbyists? Where are Biden's trips to West Virginia and Arizona to rally support for his legislation? Where are the fireside chats with the American people? Where are Biden's attempts to corral votes among the Republican Senators on highly popular issues including paid family leave, lower drug prices and a clean-energy future? For decades, the insider game in Congress has been the only game in town. That's why today we have the lowest corporate tax rate in America's modern history, the highest drug prices in the world, and have had 30 years without decisive Senate action on climate change. Alas, Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer seem to be at home in the backroom, even as the Democrats squander the opportunity to break the plutocracy -- government of, by, and for the super-rich. We need a new politics, in which policies are openly debated in Congress, the public is kept well informed, and the people's representatives stand up for their constituents' needs rather than for the corporate lobbies. It may seem naïve to believe that America could achieve this kind of politics, so deep is the role of money in politics, once again exposed in Virginia's expensive election. Yet we must try. The lobbyists are leading us to a nation starkly divided between rich and the poor while companies have free rein to trash the environment. We must fight back and reclaim politics for the common good. https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/05/opinions/to-win-democrats-need-to-end-backroom-dealing-sachs/index.html

October 6-7, 2021 Speech by Jeffrey Sachs, Special Adviser to the United Nations General Secretary Forum 2 - “Caring for Our Common Home” International Meeting of Prayer for Peace promoted by the Community of Sant'Egidio "Peoples as Brothers, Future Earth. Religions and cultures in dialogue" (Rome, 6-7 October 2021) More information about the session here: https://preghieraperlapace.santegidio.org/pageID/31365/langID/it/event/1393/Forum-2--La-cura-della-casa-comune.html Transcript Thank you very much. It is indeed a joy for all of us to be together in person and with the Community Sant'Egidio. We look forward to this so much, and it's a great honor and pleasure to be here. Pope Francis, in Laudato si' said that our interdependence obliges us to have a common plan for our common home. And Pope Francis spoke to the world leaders on September 25, 2015 saying these words and calling on the leaders to adopt a common plan. After Pope Francis finished his speech, the world leaders adopted Agenda 2030, the plan for sustainable development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. A few weeks after that, also, in no small part, in my opinion, due to Laudato si' and to the Pope's intervention with world leaders, the world leaders adopted on December 12, 2015, the Paris Climate Agreement. We have a framework for global action. We have a framework that we need in this very dangerous and dire time in the world. But we don't abide by the framework. And I want to spend a few minutes explaining why we don't abide by the framework. The people in this room want to abide by the framework, I have no doubt. The major religions of the world want to abide by this framework. There is no doubt. I downloaded, a moment ago, because I'm a kind of–you could call it–a "billionaire voyeur." I like to look at the bank accounts of the billionaires. Every day you can find online the wealth of the richest 500 people, updated daily on Bloomberg.com. Just now, I downloaded it and added up the columns: there are 500 people, their combined wealth is $8.1 trillion. That means that on average these 500 people have $16 billion of wealth. Now I have it on good authority that you can get by with just $1 billion. You probably would agree with me; you don't really need more than a billion in your bank account to get by. And yet their average is $16 billion. They have $7.5 trillion beyond the billion in their bank account. Now why do I raise this point? Because by and large, and not with too much simplification, these people are running our world. You better believe it. In my country, the United States, which is governed by billionaires perhaps more than any other country in the world, we're in the middle of a debate because President Biden has suggested a tiny increment of taxes for the rich and this is deemed to be outrageous, impossible, un-American. The US Treasury had the temerity to say that because the rich are evading taxes–evading taxes, that means illegally not paying taxes, hundreds of millions of dollars–that our internal revenue service should have more revenue so that it could audit these people and crack down. The Republican Party said, "Un-American! We don't want the government meddling in the tax accounts of people." Because those taxpayers pay for the Republican Party. If you want to see how look at OpenSecrets.org. It has what we can gather of how our plutocracy works. We know that $14 billion was given to politicians at the federal level in 2020 for their campaigns. $14 billion I can assure you where most of that came from. From the richest people, so that when the issue of enforcing the tax laws comes up, or the issue of raising taxes on the rich comes up, the representatives know just where to vote. I'm sorry to sound a little crude in this. But this is what is standing between us and having a livable planet. A decent planet, a place where people can prosper. You know, just a modest proportion of the income on that wealth, just take a 5% return–and they earn more than that, I can assure you–but a 5% return on that $8 trillion comes to $405 billion a year. That's for 500 people on the planet. You know what could be done with that $405 billion per year? Every child in every one of your countries could be in school with a decent education. Everybody on this planet could have access to primary health care. Everybody could have access to renewable energy. But they don't! 1 billion people are struggling for survival, including many people in the Honorable Foreign Minister's country of Tanzania, a wonderful country, a beautiful country, and a country with tremendous poverty. And then our governments say, "Oh, we don't know where to get the money! Budgets are so tight!" Well, I can give a list of 500 people with $8.1 trillion. And if you don't want to focus just on 500, focus on the 3000 billionaires in the world. They have $15 trillion of wealth. There's no shortage of funds, of technology, of knowledge. But the whole rich world together couldn't come up with $100 billion that they promised 12 years ago in Copenhagen for developing countries for the climate. It's mind boggling. This is a mental disease of the super rich. Pope John Paul the second had a good term for it. He called it "structures of sin." Why do we tell each other all the wonderful things we all agree should be done? Where is the accountability for the rich and the powerful? I know in my country there is no accountability right now. The United States is a locus of the structures of sin. It is a country with incredible military power to destroy. By the way, if you I'm sure you would agree but if we haven't caught on now military power can create nothing good. Every war the United States has been in has been completely destructive. The ignorance of the leadership in the United States is unbelievable. I'm not talking about particular individuals. I'm talking about a mindset because when you have a big army, you think it solves problems. When you have 6000 nuclear warheads, you think it solves problems. When you have hundreds of billionaires, you think you run the world. We have a media so vile, owned by Rupert Murdoch, another one of these billionaires that I regard as one of the most evil people on the planet, who tells Americans every day, "Don't do this socialism of taxing the rich. That's socialism." You know what the biggest warning we get in the United States is? "Don't be like Europe." That's the great horror, of course, said by senators and congressmen who don't even have a passport, and don't know. This truly is our crisis, ladies and gentlemen. We do not have accountability of the rich and the powerful. I'd like to say to the Foreign Minister, who we adore and who was a wonderful ambassador to the United States, and a minister of one of my favorite presidents of recent times President Kikwete. Tanzania is also under threat because of this kind of abuse. I plead with you to stop the East Africa crude oil pipeline. It's a disaster. It should not happen. It's another case of rich and powerful entities–in this case, Total–despite all of the knowledge and all of the evidence saying, "We don't care what the International Energy Agency says; we don't care what the Paris Agreement says; we don't care what the IPCC says. We're going to build a pipeline to pump oil from Uganda, through the most precious ecosystems you can imagine. Through the chimpanzee reserves, through the (?) steppe region, through the rivers. We're going to pump anyway, to get to the world markets. For what reason? We have no shortage of oil of what we have right now. We don't need any more oil and gas projects on this planet, period. We need to help Tanzania have a massive expansion of renewable energy. That's what we need. We need Tanzania to get the resources from these billionaires and from the giant corporations, so that Tanzania can have its children in school, can have safe water and sanitation. Not to run a 1000-kilometer pipeline, which will burst, which will spill over, which will displace communities, which will destroy nature, which will bring more oil and gas to our destruction of the planet. Let's help Tanzania to have proper options on this planet. Not dictates of Total, for God's sake, and I mean that literally. We need to know: we have a direction. The International Energy Agency says no more oil and gas projects. How hard is that to understand? No means no. Except to the structure of sins, where no means yes. We are privileged that we are ahead of two major diplomatic events. At the end of this month, in Rome, and how appropriate, will be the G20 meeting, which brings together the leaders of the 20 largest economies of the world. Incidentally, it's 19 countries and the European Union. I am begging and pleading that we may get the G21 by adding the African Union to this group to represent 1.4 billion people on the planet who are otherwise not represented and whose voice and wisdom are crucial for our world. Now, the G20 has about 85% of the world's GDP represented, and with Africa, would rise to about 88%. It has about 68%, if I remember correctly, of the world's population. With Africa, it would be another 17%, roughly. We would make it a representative body for deliberation. The G20 can make a plan for universal immunization to end this horrific pandemic. The G20 can confirm at least $100 billion, which is so minimal in terms of the size of our wealth and our world economy. Remember that the world economy is $100 trillion a year: $100 trillion. So $100 billion is 1,000th of the world economy to save the planet. And they can't even find that, this is how distorted the rich world is. And all the United States thinks about is more nuclear submarines, more alliances, more circling China. It's reckless, it's dangerous, it's destructive, it could bring us to the very brink of our demise. After the G20 will be COP 26 This is the time when all countries of the world must say, "We are going to zero. No more emissions, no later than 2050." That's why projects like the East Africa pipeline make no sense. They will be stranded. We can't have these programs because we must get to zero. But at the same time COP 26 must say we absolutely need to act now, not on our words anymore, because our words are all over the pages. But to make sure that everybody in Tanzania can have electricity with renewable energy with zero carbon because your country is filled with beautiful sunshine. I know it. I love visiting your country. It's a paradise. It's beautiful, one of the most beautiful places on the planet. And everybody could have access to electricity with solar power. This is so beautiful, and the cost is so low. But we need these 500 people taxed properly so that the revenues are there so that this work can get done. So ladies and gentlemen, we have no shortage of need. We have no shortage of goals. We have no shortage of technologies and remedies. We have no shortage of goodwill in the world. What we must have is accountability of all for the common good. Thank you very much. Jeffrey D. Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University, is Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He has served as adviser to three UN Secretaries-General, and currently serves as an SDG Advocate under Secretary-General António Guterres. His books include The End of Poverty, Common Wealth, The Age of Sustainable Development, Building the New American Economy, A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism, and, most recently, The Ages of Globalization.

One film journalist’s stream-of-consciousness cinematic journey through the pandemic, Part 57 By Laurence Lerman / New York City The long-anticipated science-fiction epic Dune, the first part of a proposed two-film series directed by Denis Villeneuve, debuted simultaneously in U.S. theaters and on distributor/co-financer Warner’s HBO Max streaming platform on October 22. What followed was a warm reception from both critics and audiences. The box office was positive, too, as the film has rung up a very respectable $69.4 million at the domestic box office after 10 days following a pandemic delay of nearly a year. Canadian filmmaker Villeneuve’s Dune is the second feature film based on Frank Herbert’s popular and influential 1965 novel—we’ll talk about the first film a little later—and its source material is as sprawling and daunting a work as you’ll find in the sci-fi canon. At nearly 1,000 pages, Dune is set thousands of years in the future, when humankind is part of an interstellar empire of different planets and species. The primary narrative revolves around a royal family, the House Atreides, led by its noble son, Paul. And that story achieves cosmic proportions when the Atreides take control of the desert planet Arrakis, home to a rare spice that provides the means of intergalactic travel, expanded sensory perception and an extended lifespan. Not surprisingly, it’s the most prized possession in the universe and the “MacGuffin” that lies at the center of Dune, its dozen-plus literary sequels (penned by Herbert and, later, by his son Brian and sci-fi novelist Kevin J. Anderson) and the aforementioned pair of Hollywood films. The origins of the just-released Dune date back to December, 2016, when Legendary Entertainment acquired the film and TV rights for novel Dune, which prompted Villeneuve immediately to begin talks with the studio to direct a film version. Coming off the large-scale sci-fi theatrical projects Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), not to mention being a serious fan of the novel, Villeneuve’s positioning was perfect. Within a year-and-change, the deal was made for him to direct and co-write Dune. And if all went well critically and commercially with the first part, a second installment to the epic story was on the table. With a serious and skilled cast that included Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Stellan Skarsgård, Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Villeneuve and company went into production in March, 2019. Putting commercial considerations aside, Dune means serious business; it is a solemn and sweeping affair that fulfills all the aesthetic requirements necessary for a huge-budget Hollywood sci-fi epic, while maintaining a sense of human-scale intimacy and intensity. In other words, it looks awesome and delivers on what could be considered dense or even difficult material. Indeed, Villeneuve’s take on the novel captures Herbert’s themes of colonialism and feudalism (among other “isms”) and gingerly places them into the context of today’s world. As for the performances, Stellan Skarsgård’s Brando-in-Apocalypse Now take on the villainous Baron Harkonnen is stellar, and Chalamet brings just the right amount of frustrated wonder and longing to his role of a young man on the brink of a divine breakthrough. As for Dune Part 2, things are looking good for those in House Atreides fighting for survival on Arrakis. Last week, Legendary Entertainment ensured that the spice will continue to flow with an announcement that a sequel has been officially green-lit. Unlike the first entry, the second film will probably have an exclusive theatrical run prior to its ancillary rollout to the streamers. The hope is that there won’t be a world-wide pandemic to schedule around and that, a couple of years down the line, audiences will be wholly supportive of seeing the film in theaters. Villeneuve, who estimates that the earliest he could begin shooting would be the fall of 2022, acknowledges that although a lot of work has been done already regarding design, scripting, casting and so on, he still has plenty to do. “I will try to face that challenge because it’s important for me that the audience sees Part 2 as soon as possible,” he told The Hollywood Reporter on October 28. “It’s not a sequel where it’s another episode or another story with the same characters. It actually has direct continuity to the first movie. It’s the second part of the big, huge movie that I’m trying to do. So, the sooner, the better.” Mark your calendar: Dune: Part 2 is officially scheduled to open in theaters on Oct. 20, 2023. Would that the tale of that other theatrical film version of Dune had ended so optimistically. But the story of the first film of Dune from 1984, written and directed by David Lynch, headed off in a far different direction. Lynch had become a cult superstar with his first feature, the 1977 midnight movie sensation Eraserhead. The film’s success on the underground circuit immediately lined him up for the historical drama The Elephant Man, based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man in Victorian London. It was produced by Mel Brooks, who hired Lynch immediately after he viewed Eraserhead, reportedly embracing the young filmmaker and declaring, “You’re a madman! I love you! You’re in!” Released in 1980, The Elephant Man was a critical and commercial smash, snagging eight Academy Award nominations (it didn’t win any), lining up Lynch for what seemed to be a substantial Hollywood career. Basking in Elephant’s glow, and clearly at a crossroads of his young filmmaking career, Lynch was approached by George Lucas to helm the third film in his Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi (1983), which he turned down. But then he was offered the opportunity to write and direct another big-budget sci-fi epic by an Italian impresario trying to quickly crank out his own version of Star Wars. The producer was Dino de Laurentiis, and that film would be Dune. De Laurentiis’ and Lynch’s Dune cost a then-staggering $45 million to produce. It was quickly rejected by critics, fans and the domestic box office, where it grossed a disastrous $27 million. A few years later, distributor Universal Studios issued an extended version of the film for the television syndication market that featured nearly an hour of unused footage and new narration, and that, too, was poorly received. Lynch was so unhappy with the alterations that he had his name removed from the extended cut, which carries the name of “Alan Smithee” as the director and “Judas Booth” as the screenwriter. (The latter was a name Lynch invented to not-so-subtly announce his feelings of betrayal.) “I always say, Dune is a huge gigantic sadness in my life,” Lynch said in a 2019 interview in the UK. “I did not have final cut on that film. Total creative control, I didn’t have it. The film is not the film I would’ve made had I had that final control. It’s a bit of a sadness.” As for the film itself, well, it certainly has a distinctive look, with its colossal, steam punk-styled sets, bizarre costuming and baroque make-up. Not so impressive are the rather cheesy space travel and battle sequences, the hard-to-follow script and the not-wholly-enthusiastic cast, which features a lackluster Kyle MacLachlan as the messianic hero Paul Atreides, and a pustule-covered Kenneth McMillan and cod piece-wearing Sting as the chief baddies. It also included Lynch stock players Brad Dourif and Jack Nance (Erasherhead, himself!) acting weird for weirdness’s sake. Dense, confusing and poorly paced, Lynch’s Dune could never be mistaken for a Hollywood film with broad appeal. The film gods had other things in mind for David Lynch, though, as a year after Dune, he wrote and directed the remarkable Blue Velvet (1986), an auteur’s calling card if ever there was one. Also produced by de Laurentiis, it is now regarded as one of the greatest films of the decade. Actually, now that I think about, the story of David Lynch and Dune does have a happy ending! 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.