By Marieke Slovin Lewis / Prescott, Ariz. Remember when travel was easy? Friends and family could walk you to the gate, and you could pack as many liquids in your carry-on as your heart desired. After the Twin Towers fell, though, travel changed quite dramatically. There was the new hassle of taking off shoes to go through security and trying to cram as many three-ounce bottles of liquid into a tiny Ziploc bag as possible, hoping the bag wouldn't burst apart on the way through the moving security scanner belt. In the good old days, I always traveled with a little key ring that held tiny travel utensils, a mini spoon, a fork and a knife that was less sharp than even an average butter knife. It took a while to remember to stop packing one in my carry-on. I now have several key rings with single, tiny, lonely spoons because security confiscated every fork and knife that I forgot to take off the ring before going to the airport. I didn’t realize that it could become more stressful or exhausting to travel until the Covid-19 pandemic hit two years ago. Travel not only became more difficult, it became impossible. My husband and I were living in Belgium at the time, and we had to cancel our move back to the United States because we had three cats and a dog and the airlines stopped allowing travel with animals. Borders closed, and a special form was required just to cross the border into France when we moved just across the border from Belgium for my husband to work on a postdoc for a year at a university. When we managed to return the to the United States this past spring, I just about lost my mind with the stress of logistics. There was a PCR test three days in advance and hoping against hope I would get negative results so I could fly from Paris to Seattle. There were flight reservations for me and the animals and procuring the necessary health documents. Finding the right size cardboard box for my mandolin strangely proved to one of the most challenging (in the end, I ordered a bicycle box, which my husband refashioned into a more compact carrying case). The list goes on. Thank the travel gods, I made it in one piece and with my luggage, mandolin, and entourage of cats and a dog intact. After the stress of our return, I vowed to stay put in our home in Arizona for a good long while. For most people, six months might not fit that description, but that seems to me how I roll. Within a couple of months, I was flying up to Seattle with my dog to help my mother-in-law after her back surgery to repair a smashed vertebrae after a bad fall. While I would have preferred to not get on an airplane, flying with just one animal and one suitcase was mercifully smooth sailing. Back in Arizona after two weeks, I was once again far too exhausted to even consider taking any kind of big trip. My husband and I had traded places, and he flew to Seattle for two weeks before returning home. He was home for two weeks before heading back up to Seattle for my mother-in-law’s second surgery (do not even get my started on the state of health “care” in this country right now). Just one week into his visit, and my life as a nomad jumped back into gear with an incredibly opportunity to return to Europe. My husband and I went to Europe in the fall 2016 so he could study for his doctorate. While he learned about the philosophy of technology over the course of four years, I volunteered at a refugee center to write music with people from their migration stories. I worked with Sarah Reader Harris, a poet I met there, who was originally from Scotland and had been living in Belgium for the past several decades after marrying a Belgian. We had applied for an arts participation award for our project back in May through an organization called Amateo. A week ago, my friend texted me that we were on their website as one of five finalists. The winner would be announced at the award ceremony in Milan, Italy at the end of October. Since returning to the United States in June, I have been straddling the fence between this country and Europe. Part of me has been thrilled to reconnect with friends in our community we haven’t seen since we moved to Brussels. I love the little corner of Prescott where we live, surrounded by granite rock formations and beautiful desert scenery. Another part of me pines to reconnect with my European community and to find a way back to the land of socialized medicine and affordable healthcare. With this award announcement, it was like the mother ship was calling me home. Answering the call has proved more than a little challenging or what my husband likes to refer to as the gods wanting to have some fun by giving me exactly what I have been asking for. Even knowing my sanity would once again be put to the test, I desperately wanted to be able to meet my friend Sarah for the conference and award ceremony in Italy. There is a tendency for history to repeat itself, and clearly my own life is no exception with regard to travel. With no end in sight for the COVID pandemic, I have found that it is no longer just the experience of travel that is stressful and exhausting. I went through an entire week of full-on anxiety and panic attacks, trying to figure out all of the would have to check before I could get on a plane and if I would be able to manage to get through the list in time. There’s the usual stuff. Finding flights and places to stay. One benefit of the pandemic is that you can cancel and/or change flights SO much more easily than before. You don’t even have to pick up a phone. Need to cancel? No problem. Your miles have been placed back into your account. Sweet! The rest is far from pleasant. I took multiple covid tests in France, and I knew the system. I knew I would get results within 24 hours no problem. In the states, it was all new and I did not want to get to the day of travel without a negative test in hand. Even though I am fully vaccinated, I still need to have a negative Covid test to leave the country, and it couldn’t be more than 72 hours (three days) in advance of my flight. The problem that I started running into where I live in Arizona was that every pharmacy and lab I contacted told me it would take three to five days to get results, possibly sooner but no guarantee . In an email from the airline, I was informed that the rapid antigen testes were now being accepted in addition to the three-day PCR. I was thrilled, but my relief was short-lived when the only place I could find that conducted rapid tests was more than a two-hour drive from my home. Not sustainable. What boggles my mind is that two years into a pandemic, a negative test is still required within a time frame that testing facilities cannot guarantee. Where does that leave those of us attempting to cultivate to some kind of new “normal” and leave the country from time to time? Back to the metaphorical drawing board. I read the airline email more closely a second time and noticed with delight that European countries had approved the rapid antigen test, as well as the at-home antigen tests. Huzzah! Wonder of wonders. Miracle, miracle. I called both American and British Air on Friday to ask about their policy on at-home antigen tests. For each, I waited at least 40 minutes on hold and had the music in my head for ages after. For each, the staff told me they only had access to the same sites that I was looking at and they would have to put me on hold (more music) to ask someone. Both came back and said an at-home test was completely acceptable. Fantastic! I took the antigen test Friday night for my Monday night flight. I followed the instructions, which were actually very accessible. Having done a test at my local Walgreens earlier in the afternoon the same day, I was familiar with the process and felt more confident I could do it myself. Result in 10 minutes = one blue line for negative! Of course, almost immediately after seeing the single blue line on the test strip, it occurred to me that there was no way that I could upload a certificate showing the negative result the result. In addition, there was no way to prove that it was indeed my test and not someone else’s. Damn it. I was so close! I didn’t feel comfortable bringing my little test strip with me to the airport, but I also was nervous that any PCR tests I might take would not come back in time. The latest appointments in the day were 4:45pm, and my flight was 7:15pm. Rather than leaving everything to a single test, I decided to do a bit of a pandemic gambling and booked one appointment Saturday morning at Walgreens and another a half an hour later at CVS. My hope was that one would come through in time, but I was still nervous. My mom suggested looking to see if the airport happened to do rapid antigen tests. As a rule for most of my childhood and adult life I have rolled my eyes at most of my mom’s suggestions. I think it is just part of the mother-daughter dynamic, but this time she was spot-on. I made an appointment at the rapid test center, which was conveniently located in the same terminal as my departing flight. The rapid test less conveniently came with the exorbitant price tag of $250, but I was desperate. Let the games begin! Saturday morning at 11:15am at Walgreens then 10:45am at CVS. Each pharmacy had a completely different set of instructions for the test, as well as different disposal policies. This did not build confidence. I was looking at an evening flight because my husband would just barely be able to make it home in time for a changing of the guard watching our animals. He had been up in Seattle for the two weeks on this most recent trip, caring for his mom after a bad fall which required two surgeries. I had already canceled my morning flight when his brother went off the rails and said he would not go up to “pick up the pieces” if my husband left and mom still needed help. We had all been putting our lives on hold to take turns helping out, and we were all exhausted. Add the emotional toll and fatigue from nearly two years of life in a global pandemic, and the exhaustion goes up many notches. Throw in two months of trying to figure out healthcare for an elderly woman when hospitals are completely overwhelmed on top of that, and you get family members on the brink of psychological/emotional meltdowns. This pandemic leaves no one unscathed. After taking my two tests, there was nothing more I to do on that front but wait. In an attempt to alleviate some of my stress, I did a thorough cleaning of the couch, which involved removing all of the cushions and vacuuming everything the hose attachment would reach. Then I did several loads of laundry and cleaned the bathroom. My first email check Sunday morning revealed that CVS had won the race! I clicked on the link provided in the email to view my results with anxious anticipation. Negative! My husband managed to drive from Seattle to Prescott in under 24 hours (he didn’t even stop to sleep), so he could take charge of the homestead and drive me to the airport shuttle. Arrivederci! Italy, here I come! Marieke Slovin Lewis is a writer, musician, singer-songwriter, yoga teacher, and editor. She holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education and writes music from people's life stories, using a method called Story-to-Song that she developed with a fellow doctoral student. She was recently recognized as a finalist for the 2021 Amateo Award for arts participation projects in Europe for her project, "On the Move: Poems and Songs of Migration," for which she wrote songs with refugees and asylum seekers in Brussels, Belgium about their migration experiences. Marieke is a wandering soul and has lived all over the world. She is currently living with her husband, three cats, and a big white husky in Prescott, Arizona.

By Andy Borowitz November 2, 2021 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a big win for the senator from West Virginia, congressional Republicans have named Joe Manchin Employee of the Month for October. Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, Manchin seemed overwhelmed by the award, saying that he was “humbled and honored.” “When I work hard to keep benefits out of the hands of poor children, I’m not doing it to win a prize,” he said. “I’m just doing what I love.” Kyrsten Sinema, the senator from Arizona, sent her congratulations to Manchin after learning that she had been the runner-up for the award. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy beating a great competitor like Joe,” she said. “Maybe next month.” Andy Borowitz is a Times best-selling author and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He writes The Borowitz Report, a satirical column on the news.

By Bonnie Fishman / San Francisco Bay Area Have you ever traveled to a faraway land where you ran from place to place, seeing as many sites, churches, ruins, museums, vistas, jammed into as many vacation days as possible? “I came all this way and don’t want to miss anything!” you said to yourself and even to your friends. Upon your return from your trip, it was a blur. I’ve done many trips like that. And don’t get me wrong; I’ve had some amazing adventures of that sort that were both fun and enriching. But what would it be like if you went somewhere new and you just did nothing, even for just 24 hours? Really did nothing, just sat, visited, sat some more. I was fortunate to have this almost existential experience in November, 2016. Granted, I flew 5,600 miles to get there. I was tagging along with my sister, Marcia, on her annual fall trip with her two traveling doctor friends, Donna and Becky. They have been globetrotting together for years, going to some less traveled places such as Malta, Romania, Poland, Albania, and Iceland (in 1997, 20 years before it was fashionable). As a matter of fact, Marcia has been to 35 countries--many of them twice! This particular trip was to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay. My knowledge of this region wasn’t up to snuff. I didn’t know these two capital cities shared the same river, Rio de la Plata, a not-so-attractive, densely brown-colored body of water that flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It is not so much pollution as it is 90% clay particles and silt. Our destination, El Galope Horse Farm and Hostel in Uruguay was not an easy place to get to. After we had flown 13 or so hours into Buenos Aires, taken a taxi to the ferry terminal, taken a ferry to Uruguay, a bus ride and another taxi, we arrived at the farm near Nueva Helvecia, Departmento de Colonia. Let’s call it what it was: the middle of nowhere. Considering we had been traveling for a day and a half to get there, we were well positioned to do nothing. Good thing. There was nothing to do! Perfect. Miguel and Monica, the married couple who owned the farm, were the most welcoming hosts to their gorgeous property. The farm is a cluster of rustic buildings on open grassy plains, and horses and dogs abound. Being November, it was their spring, and the weather was quite warm with loads of sunshine. After dumping our stuff and changing into swimsuits, we began doing our nothing. We literally sat in their dipping pool for hours, chatting, relaxing, watching butterflies and parrots in nearby trees. No timetable, no play or concert to attend, no dinner reservation, no people to meet. Just quiet. No place to be except here. The beauty of being in this hostel is that Miguel cooks for you. Yes. You don’t have to lift a finger! Not my normal style but, hey, I “suffered” through it. He put out a snack from the Provolonera, a uniquely Uruguayan cooking vessel, invented in 2000, to cook and serve a hot cheese appetizer. This region of Uruguay was settled by the Swiss in the mid-1800s, hence the focus on cheese. Think fondue except this is almost all crust, like the sides of lasagna that everyone fights over. You use fondue forks to pick up the crusty, cheesy balls to pop in your mouth. Some are just cheese, others have savory tidbits in the bottom, such as mushrooms, olives, onions. After the starter, we tore into the most delicious steaks grilled over an open fire. South America is known for its beef and this did not disappoint. That evening, a perfect temperature of 75°, no mosquitos, no noise but critters chirping, I let go. It was an ethereal experience that I will always treasure. I bathed in the darkness and solitude, staring at the starry sky, albeit backwards. Yes, in the Southern Hemisphere, all of the constellations are in the “wrong” place and the moon waxes and wanes from the “wrong” side. It was like looking in a mirror! We laid out on chaises for some time, doing our nothing. I highly recommend it. The next day, after Becky and Marcia had taken brief horseback rides, we boarded a bus and headed for Montevideo, to enter the ratrace of traveling once again. So much for the ever-so-brief tranquility. Of course, we packed in as much as we could each of the two days that we were there, which left us with little desire to go out in the evening. Sprawled out on our beds in our charming waterfront hotel after an intense day of sightseeing, shopping for amethysts (Uruguay is the amethyst capital of the world), walking, not to mention dining on steaks and wine al fresco for lunch, who had the energy to even think about going out to dinner? My comment to my sister: “What I wouldn’t do for someone to deliver me a snack of say, empañadas, right about now.” Voilà! Sitting on the desk was an empañada delivery menu. Not pizza but those flaky pockets of dough filled with a delightful selection of cheese, vegetables, meats, and even chocolate ones for dessert. Delivered to your door. They were so delicious that we ordered them two nights in a row! Empañadas are traditionally from Spain, Latin American countries and the Philippines. Most recipes use lard as the fat in the dough but I have chosen to do a lighter, version. Chicken is a commonly used filling but you can make up any combination of cheese, vegetables, or other meat. If you want to freeze them, I recommend freezing them raw and baking from the freezer. Let us know here at The Insider what concoctions you come up with. Buen provecho! Chicken Empañadas Yield: 16 5-inch empañadas (turnovers) Dough: 8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature 1 c. plain Greek yogurt 2 1/2 c. flour Filling: 2 Tbs. olive oil 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into 1/4” dice 1/2 c. diced onion 1/2 c. diced red pepper 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp. ground cumin 1 c. chopped fresh tomato 1/2 c. water 1/4 c. raisins 1/4 c. pimento stuffed green olives, chopped 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley 2 Tbs. tomato paste 1/4 c. dry breadcrumbs 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper 1 well scrambled egg or egg white for the top Make the dough: Using a stationary mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add yogurt and beat until smooth. Gradually add the flour. Blend to combine. Form into a disc, cover, refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Work with half the dough at a time. Make the filling: Sauté the chicken, onions, red pepper, garlic, and cumin in the oil in a skillet over moderately high heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the chicken has turned white. Add remaining ingredients except for the breadcrumbs. Turn down to moderate; cook for 15 minutes. Blend in the breadcrumbs, salt, and ground black pepper. Cool filling to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into 1/16” thickness. Cut into 5” diameter rounds. Brush the edges with water. Place about 3 Tbs. of filling on half of each circle. Fold over the tops. Crimp with a fork. Place the turnovers on the cookie sheets spaced about 1 inch apart. Brush tops with scrambled egg. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden. Serve hot or at room temperature. Bonnie Fishman attended the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London. Later, she owned and operated Bonnie’s Patisserie in Southfield, Mich. and Bonnie’s Kitchen and Catering in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. She has taught cooking for over 35 years and created hundreds of recipes. She is now living in Northern California.

By Andy Borowitz October 29, 2021 MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA (The Borowitz Report)—Mark Zuckerberg has legally changed his name to Mother Teresa, Mother Teresa confirmed today. In an official statement, Mother Teresa said that he had changed his name to better reflect his mission of charity and kindness. “The name ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ did not accurately describe my function: to be a force for good, spreading love and kindness throughout the metaverse,” he said. Mother Teresa admitted that it might be difficult for some Meta employees to get used to his new name, but he said that he would give them until the end of October to do so. After that, he said, any employee who refers to him as Mark Zuckerberg will be immediately “expelled from the metaverse.” “Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind,” Mother Teresa 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.

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

By Naomi Serviss / New York City There’s a bleak yet incandescent shimmer around the astonishing, recently resuscitated Broadway musical, Girl From the North Country. Girl magnifies Depression era desperation with passionate covers of early catalogue Bob Dylan songs. This is not a traditional jukebox musical, à la Cher, Tina, or Jersey Boys. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Girl puts a spell on the audience, transporting us to a dreamy abstraction of another dimension. It’s a sometimes sad, often raucous, dream of muted colors, drab sets thrumming with hidden secrets that unfold throughout the show. Irish dramatist Conor McPherson, three-time Tony nominee, wrote the libretto and directed the original musical with a deftly tender touch. Dylan’s songs like you’ve never heard them sung. It moved me to tears. And I’m a hardened New Yorker! I’m getting softer in my dotage. Songs in the play include: The show is set in a 1934 Duluth, Minn. (Nobel-laureate Dylan’s hometown) boardinghouse. It teems with woebegone boarders whose misfortunes are expressed through individual and ensemble tunes. Nick Laine (the masterful Jay O. Sanders) is the proprietor of the time-worn establishment. He’s nearly worn out himself. Dylan’s musical artistry is amplified by the multi-talented baker’s dozen performers who command the stage. It’s a masterwork. Fleshed out characters sing solo and in ensemble. Choreography is pulse-racing. And I couldn’t take my eyes off Mare Winningham, who portrays Nick’s comically demented wife Elizabeth. She should be charged with theft, as in stealing the show. Winningham’s every gesture and raised eyebrow spoke volumes. Her character may be losing her marbles but her tongue speaks the unspoken, inconvenient truth. Her flawless, enthusiastic dancing is smooth. She’s having fun! Her character is the most enigmatic of them all. No surprise that singer-songwriter Winningham has won two Prime Time Emmys, and was nominated for two Golden Globes and a Tony. Winningham mesmerizes without upstaging her fellow actors. If you were expecting a Dylan biography, you will be sorely disappointed. But if you have even a passing interest in this poet’s formative years’ output, you might be as charmed and surprised as was I. Girl is an homage to a genius who challenged social and musical norms and mores while simultaneously transforming the culture for decades. There’s a lot to digest. Surprisingly, the tunes don’t move the plot forward as much as depict a tender mood, reverential appeal, pseudo-passion for charity and forgiveness, overall. The first iteration of Girl originated at London’s Old Vic in 2017. New York’s Public Theatre hosted it the following year. It opened on Broadway March 5, 2020, to rave reviews. A week later, 41 Broadway and 62 off-Broadway and independent theaters shuttered. Covid. Nineteen months later, in early October, Girl opened at the stately Belasco Theatre. Possibly the most beautiful of the 41 Broadway theaters, the Belasco was built in 1907. It’s one of my favorites. Not merely because of the Tiffany lighting, ceiling panels or expansive murals that hijack my imagination. Don’t get me started on the curtains. It’s a fascinating slice of theater history. And how the then-one percent lived. Rumor has it the ghost of Belasco wanders the theater. I’m didn’t start it. Blame the grapevine. The reason I prefer the Belasco is a women’s no-brainer. When you descend the well-lit stairs, you will encounter the magnificent Ladies Lounge, which includes a spiffy entryway and has enough stalls for all in need! No lines! Women understand. "The Girl From the North Country" is a not-to-be missed, ultimately uplifting show bathed in a nostalgic glow. It's worth its weight in Playbills. 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 Jessie Seigel / Washington, D.C. Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is earning unflattering new nicknames as fast as social media can spin them out. He’s been dubbed ‘Governor DeSatan,” “Governor DuhSantis” and even “Governor Death Sentence.” The snarkiness is hardly surprising. Many of his constituents are unhappy that DeSantis continues to sacrifice Florida’s citizens to his ambitions. If Covid-19 and its variants had a vote, DeSantis would be their man. In August, when Florida—together with Texas—accounted for one-third of all new Covid cases in the entire country, DeSantis responded to President Biden’s efforts to save people from hospitalization and death from that dread disease with belligerence: “If you’re coming after the rights of parents in Florida? I’m standing in your way. If you’re trying to deny kids a proper in-person education, I’m gonna stand in your way and stand up for the kids in Florida. If you’re trying to restrict people and impose mandates and ruin their jobs and livelihood, if you are trying to lock people down, I am standing in your way. I am standing for the people of Florida.” This followed DeSantis’ action in May, 2021, when he signed legislation prohibiting businesses, schools, cruise ships and government entities from requiring proof of vaccination. He wasn’t done. In July and August, he banned public schools from implementing mask mandates. Now, DeSantis is trying to deprive schools of funding if they require vaccines or masks despite his ban, even further abusing his power and putting children’s health and lives at even greater risk—not to mention the lives and livelihoods of teachers and other school staff. As President Biden has begun instituting stronger federal measures to stem the virus’s spread, Governor DeSantis is upping his ante too. The Biden Administration is now requiring federal contractors to get their employees vaccinated by December 8. In addition, OSHA is creating a rule requiring private companies that employ 100 or more people to have their workers either vaccinated or tested weekly. Furthermore, facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding will be required to have their employees vaccinated. There are thousands of such employees in Florida. In response, DeSantis has announced that he plans to convene a special session of Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature in November to consider developing state laws deliberately opposing federal requirements. These include proposals: (1) making it illegal for government to mandate the vaccine for government employees; (2) making businesses liable for any medical harm resulting from mandatory vaccination; (3) changing the 2021 law protecting businesses from coronavirus-related liability to remove those protections if a business makes employee vaccination mandatory; and (4) permitting parents to collect attorney’s fees if they win a lawsuit against a school district for enacting coronavirus restrictions. It is likely that the Republicans in the Florida legislature will dutifully follow where DeSantis leads, as they have done in the past. There are not enough Democrats in the Florida legislature to counter these proposals. In support of DeSantis, Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has even outlandishly claimed that though the vaccines may reduce the likelihood of transmission, they don’t prevent transmission. On October 21, Ladapo: declared: “I’ve heard some leaders say things like, ‘We’ll create safe workplaces by mandating these vaccines.’ Well, they’re really decoupled, because the infections can still happen whether people are vaccinated or not.” This, of course, is a ridiculous argument against vaccination since federal data from the CDC determined as far back as August, that the unvaccinated were six times more likely to contract Covid, and about 11 times more likely to die from it than those who are vaccinated. As Derek Cummings, a professor and infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute, has stated: “There are things that help us in most cases, but we don’t dismiss them because they don’t help us in every case.” Very logical. But of course, logic has nothing to do with DeSantis’ consistently virulent opposition. DeSantis’ Motivation While DeSantis claims he is focused on running for re-election as governor in 2022, his actions strongly suggest he’s really treating the coming 2022 Florida election for governor as a stepping-stone to a run for president in 2024—and the health of Florida citizens be damned. The Republican primary is not until August 23, 2022, and DeSantis’ only potential opponent so far appears to be Republican Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Crist, a former one-term Republican governor of Florida, is currently the favored potential candidate to run for governor against DeSantis in 2022. Crist recently tweeted; “We all know why Ron is pulling this stunt [the special session] — so he can show his loyalty to Trump. It’s disgusting, it’s wrong, and I vehemently oppose it.” Nikki Fried, another of DeSantis’ potential Democratic opponents in the governor’s race, has pointed out that DeSantis didn’t call the special session to address any of Florida’s true recent crises, like pandemic-related unemployment, the summer Covid-19 surge in hospitalizations, or the Surfside building collapse that killed 100 people. Furthermore, rather than traveling around Florida, addressing the kinds of issues raised by Fried and Crist, DeSantis is busy running around the nation, fundraising by courting Trumpian extremists. Over the summer, he held fundraisers in Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada and California, and more recently, was in western New York for a $5,000-a-plate fundraiser. The funds appear to go into the coffers of and be dispensed by a political action committee. It is impossible to believe that all this effort at national fundraising and exposure is directed solely at a second run for governor in Florida. However, if DeSantis actually plans to use the funds for a national campaign, Florida law might stand in his way. According to the Florida Division of Elections Political Committee Handbook, “a Florida political committee must use its funds solely for Florida political activities, i.e., depositing contributions and making expenditures, which by definition in Florida law, are for the purpose of influencing only Florida elections.” Ben Wilcox, president of Integrity Florida, a political watchdog organization, has said that Florida law would not allow DeSantis to transfer any funds he has raised to a political action committee for national office. On the other hand, if DeSantis is using Trump as his model, Florida legal requirements may not stop him. Reactions in Florida Support or opposition among Florida politicians is as one would expect. The Republicans hypocritically support what they call individual liberty, while they ignore societal public health and the individual’s right to live. Democrats show their social concern by decrying DeSantis’ cynical determination to sacrifice the lives of Floridians to his larger political ambitions. Democratic State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith tweeted that DeSantis “is more than happy to trade the lives of Floridians for GOP votes in Iowa and campaign contributions in Utah.” Added Smith, “Now he’s calling a special session to PUNISH schools, hospitals and businesses even further for the crime of protecting our communities from Covid-19. More Floridians will die as a result.” Democratic State Representative Joy Goff-Marcil wrote “This is an attack on Florida’s private business and local leaders who’ve taken steps to protect Floridians. I’m determined to fight against this in the Legislature to protect the freedom businesses have to safeguard our residents.” What Floridian voter reaction to DeSantis’ sabotage of Covid mandates will be remains to seen. DeSantis won his 2018 run for governor by only 0.4 percent. And according to The Hill, as of September 2020, of Florida’s 13.5 million registered voters, Democrats accounted for 36.8 percent, Republicans for 35.2 percent, unaffiliated with 26.9 percent and minority parties 1.1 percent. The Hill speculated that to win reelection as governor, DeSantis needs to appeal to a “wide swath of voters,” but instead is “pandering to his GOP base”—which might do in his chances. If Floridians have any sanity or sense of self-preservation, one would expect DeSantis’ current policies to result in his loss of the 2022 election by a far greater percentage than 0.4 percent. But then again, if people were moved as much by reason and true self-interest as they seem to be by the manipulative stirring up of unreasoned anger and prejudice, none of the current crop of hate-mongering politicians would be in office. DeSantis’ Chances in a Presidential Run Since Florida is one of the important swing states for presidential elections, a loss of DeSantis’ 2022 reelection bid for governor could scuttle his political viability for a 2024 presidential nomination. Even if he does manage to get re-elected, his chances may depend on what former President Donald Trump decides to do. On October 25, Florida Politics reported a University of New Hampshire survey finding that DeSantis currently has higher favorable ratings with potential 2024 GOP primary voters than Trump. DeSantis is at +62 net favorability. Trump came in at +54. And a national survey of 463 likely voters by McLaughlin & Associates showed the Florida Governor was the choice of 24 percent of those surveyed between Oct. 14 and Oct. 18, while Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was preferred by 18 percent, and former Vice President Mike Pence was in third place, with 14 percent. But according to Florida Politics, in a survey with the senior Donald Trump included, the former president was preferred by 53 percent of those surveyed and DeSantis was the choice of just 10 percent. Florida Politics interpretation: DeSantis has a chance at the nomination—if the former President does not run. Naturally, Trump has sounded off, telling Yahoo Finance, “If I faced him, I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else…I think most people would drop out; I think he would drop out.” Polls are only snapshots in time, and there is more than a year before the 2022 Florida election, more than three years before the 2024 presidential election. There’s no knowing what events will intervene between now and those elections or what effect they may have on voters. But whether the Republican presidential candidate in 2024 is DeSantis or Trump, or someone else, he is likely to be only one of an army of sociopathic demagogues using fair means or foul—mostly foul—to obtain and hold power nationally and within the 50 states. It is incumbent on every one of us to expose not only the cynical lies, tactics, and strategies of these many demagogues, but find some effective way to bring voters to their senses and to the polls—and make sure their votes are counted once they get there. 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 John Rolfe / Red Hook, N.Y. Did you know that human beings aren’t the only creatures who have been suffering from the beastly Covid-19 pandemic? Across this great land of ours, more than 80 zoos — including major ones in San Diego, Chicago (Brookfield), New Orleans (Audubon), Washington, D.C. (National), and New York City (Bronx) — have been compelled to vaccinate their animals. Yes, critters can get coronavirus. Great apes and monkeys, lions and tigers and bears (Oh, my!), pandas, hyenas, otters, and even fruit bats are susceptible.  So to a lesser degree are domestic cats and dogs (see story in next week’s issue).  Animal symptoms include the usual coughing, sneezing, lethargy and digestive upsets. Most recover, though a snow leopard in North Dakota and a lion in Hawaii have died of Covid. Animal coronavirus vaccines have been around since the 1950s, mainly as protection for livestock. (Covid-19 is a coronavirus variant.) A poultry version can wreak havoc with a hen’s reproductive system and stop the bird from laying eggs. Cattle can develop respiratory infections and diarrhea (call it the battle of bull runs). A particularly virulent strain that affects pigs killed millions of them in the U.S. in the early 2000s. The latest version went into production after two pooches contracted Covid in Hong Kong last year. It’s made by the veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis Global Biologics and authorized for experimental use by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a case-by-case basis. (It’s not needed for popular pets at this time, but the goal is to have the vaccine ready for them just in case.) Zoos began asking for a Covid-19 vaccine in the spring of 2020 after a Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo became the first animal in the U.S. known to test positive. Zoetis, formerly a subsidiary of Pfizer, has donated thousands of doses. Finding a one-size-fits-all drug for more than 100 different species is a challenge. The key is choosing the right adjuvant, the compound that is added to viral material in order to help stimulate the body’s immune system. Some adjuvants slowly release the viral material and prolong the immune response. Others provoke a quicker, more intense response that can trigger allergic reactions or other side effects, depending on the species. Zoos are using an adjuvant they feel is safe across the board, but another problem is that coronaviruses come in many variations and often mutate, creating a need for new vaccines. Fortunately, existing ones gave Zoetis a starting point for their Covid-19 variation. Animals ordinarily get some routine shots to protect against maladies such as rabies and tetanus, but mass vaccination campaigns haven’t been needed since an outbreak of the mosquito-borne West Nile Virus 20 years ago. Immunizing them becomes more crucial when Covid can jump from animal to animal and even species to species. An outbreak among gorillas at the San Diego Zoo is likely to have been caused by an infected zookeeper. Minks (which are farmed for their fur) can transmit Covid to humans and vice versa. Zoetis is testing the vaccine in minks for the sake of getting a provisional license from the USDA, which is basically an animal emergency use authorization. There’s also worry that domesticated animals will contaminate wildlife and thus create natural reservoirs of Covid that are basically uncontrollable. The strategy at most zoos is to start with 10 primates and follow with doses for big cats and mustelids (weasels, martens, skunks, badgers, and so on). The vaccination process is much like with people: two shots, 21 days apart. So far, side effects have been rarely reported. Arm soreness was suspected in vaccinated gorillas and a brown bear seemed to grumble about some discomfort at its injection spot. Delivering shots to zoo animals is done a little differently from giving humans the jab. Zookeepers must convince some, such as gorillas and other primates, to lean against a mesh barrier. Cats and mustelids may have to sit on a log. Once they’re comfy, keepers desensitize them to the coming poke by giving them treats while tapping them with a popsicle stick, then a dull needle, and finally the real thing followed by a sweet treat as a reward. If it’s any consolation, many zoo animals are living under many of the same restrictions we are, including social distancing, quarantine and limited visitors. Zoos are requiring staff members to wear masks and gloves, avoid prolonged contact with infected animals, and stay home when feeling ill. (Senator Rand Paul has yet to comment on the tyranny of it all.) Despite the inconvenience and temporary discomfort, our fine furry and feathered friends have been quite cooperative about the whole thing. "Due to the respectful and trusting relationships developed between the animals and care staff, many of the zoo’s animals voluntarily participate in their own health care, in this case holding still while veterinary staff administers the vaccination," Brookfield Zoo said in a release. Too bad we humans aren’t as cooperative. To my knowledge and to their likely credit, weasels haven’t started circulating conspiracy theories to persuade other critters that the virus is a hoax and the vaccine is merely an attempt to secretly microchip them so they can be tracked by the government. Animals apparently know that’s already being done with traditional methods such as bracelets and ear tags, whereas some humans are still unaware that they have long been tracked via cell phones, web browsers and credit cards. Nevertheless, "We're all in this together," Oakland Zoo CEO Nik Deheja told ABC News. "This is not just a human problem. It's a human and animal problem. So if we can cooperatively share our understanding, it'll be better for everybody." Indeed. Perhaps the recalcitrant among us, the anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers in particular, should make like Dr. Doolittle and talk to the animals. 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 Andy Borowitz October 26, 2021 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In his latest bid to prevent the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack from obtaining relevant documents, Donald Trump has claimed diplomatic immunity in his capacity as a representative of the Russian government. According to Trump’s legal argument, his status as a Russian official during his four years in the White House makes all documents produced during his tenure property of the Russian Federation. “Any attempt by the U.S. to seize Russian property will be seen as an act of war,” a letter from Trump’s legal team reads. While Trump waits to see if his claim of diplomatic immunity succeeds, he is also prepared to argue that, having once hired Rudolph Giuliani as his attorney, he would be justified in pleading insanity. 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.

We at The Insider are honored to have published renowned cultural (opera, classical music, culinary and travel) expert Fred Plotkin’s marvelous video interview series, Fred Plotkin on Fridays, for more than a year now. As this rhapsodic profile by WNYC, America’s most-listened-to public radio station shows, Fred is widely considered an authority with unique access to luminaries and newsmakers in the arts. He has brought Insider readers in-depth conversations with leading cultural figures that are at once incisive and entertaining. Among our favorites are legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade; NPR Weekend host Michel Martin; travel expert Rick Steves; and Dominique Meyer, head of La Scala. Reading the following interview, Insiders will soon find that Fred is as compelling as the stars whom he interviews! The Insider: Hi Fred. When I look at your bio, it’s hard to know where to begin! You are considered one of the world’s great experts on opera and everything Italian. The president of Italy made you a Cavaliere della Stella d’Italia—the Italian equivalent of a knighthood—in 2015. You are the author of nine books, including Opera 101, Classical Music 101 and six books on Italian culinary culture. You have worked at more than 40 opera companies, including being a Fulbright Scholar at La Scala and Performance Manager of the Metropolitan Opera. You have a master’s in journalism from Columbia and have written for most of the top newspapers and magazines as well as being the lead opera writer at WQXR in New York and being the opera expert for New York Times Journeys. And I am sure there is a lot more I left out! Has your work life been greatly impacted by the pandemic? Fred Plotkin: Before the pandemic, I traveled constantly. It is the thing I love most and I constructed my career to include frequent travel. My travels included working at opera companies and festivals, teaching opera symposia for Times Journeys, giving some 50 lectures a year in the U.S. and Europe and doing research for my food writing. I hadn’t set foot off Manhattan Island since March 8, 2020 until I gave a lecture this week at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on October 23. The Insider: Wow! What a jolt not traveling must have been. But I bet you’ve found creative ways to go around that reality. Fred Plotkin: I did not want, when the pandemic finally eases or becomes a livable chronic situation, to say only that I washed my hands a lot. But I also did not want to get sick. I have known 18 people who have died of Covid-19 and more than 60 who have been infected. And I take care of an elderly relative who would be vulnerable to infection and I don’t allow anyone to enter the home. The Insider: That’s a tremendous number of friends and colleagues. I’m so sorry to hear that! But I know what you mean about not wanting to waste this period of time. How have you continued your opera work? Fred Plotkin: I realized that I have good interviewing skills and that many of the leading people in opera and classical music were unable to perform and, uncharacteristically, had a lot of time on their hands and no place to communicate. I was asked by Idagio.com, a German music streaming service--a really good one--to start a program. I called it Fred Plotkin on Fridays because they had Thomas Hampson on Thursdays and I liked the alliteration. Tom is a wonderful singer and very intelligent man. I am not a singer but bring other abilities, including a journalist’s skills at research and interviewing. I actually began with Tom on April 24, 2020 and have kept up ever since. My next guests included great singers such as Christine Goerke, Ben Heppner, Julia Bullock and Ferruccio Furlanetto. I started with people I know. I have been working in opera since 1972, when I was 16, so I have quite the Rolodex. I have since added arts administrators, conductors, instrumentalists, writers, broadcasters and a couple of food and wine world people who like music. The Insider: And Insider readers have been among the lucky recipients weekly! After a career of interviewing so many celebrated people in person, what’s it been like to meet and talk with them remotely? Fred Plotkin: I used Zoom before the pandemic for work meetings. And I have appeared a lot on TV, radio and in a couple of films, so I am at home in front of a camera. The key to being a good interviewer, apart from diligent preparation, is to really listen and then pick up that thread. I see so many interviewers, and have been interviewed by them, who have a list of questions that they ask no matter what the guest has already answered. I occasionally teach a class I created called “The Art of Listening.” Many people don’t realize that hearing and listening are not the same thing. I use music to teach listening to speech and conversation. And not just for journalism. I find it is essential for lawyers, negotiators, businesspeople, medical practitioners and educators. If I were to tell you I have one particular strength, it is that I am a superb listener. The Insider: We at The Insider who have watched many of your interviews can attest to that! Has the pandemic been a complicated time for performers? Fred Plotkin: It has been devastating. Musicians and actors appear in front of live audiences. If there cannot be public assembly, there cannot be work. I am not a musician or actor but I am a public speaker. I lost more than 50 gigs due to Covid. I was able to recoup a few by doing Zoom lectures. They were fine and I was glad for the work but there is nothing like a live audience. You feel them breathe, sigh, enthuse and--rarely, we hope--snooze. For musicians and actors, they work in that space that is a theater and they are fed energy by the audience. It is fine to practice on your own, but the reward is performance. I sought to do Fred Plotkin on Fridays not only for the intellectual stimulation and the intimacy of interacting with someone far away for an hour or two, but also because it is performance, which I love doing. One more thing: I wanted to do this weekly program because I felt it was important to document the thoughts and brilliance of my guests, not focusing on the frustration of the pandemic but creating lasting documentation of what these people know. I hope these conversations will become educational tools for decades to come. The Insider: As a music and theater lover, are you ready to attend live performances yet? Fred Plotkin: I am hesitantly ready to attend live performances. I have been to three live events. I mask up. I have, of course, been vaccinated and I do my best to keep my distance. I only sit in aisle seats. I know that I crave the sound of live music, which, for the uninitiated, is not amplified with electronics in the opera house or concert hall. But I also am concerned about the Delta variant, the Mu variant and ones that have not yet been named. So I might stand in standing room in a theater and duck out if I feel uncomfortable. The Insider: In Manhattan, are these live performances beginning again, or have they been postponed because of Covid? Fred Plotkin: The Metropolitan Opera did a wonderful commemorative concert on Sept 11, 2021 of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. It was broadcast on PBS though it was also attended live by an audience in the Metropolitan Opera house, including many relatives of those who died on 9/11. The Met opened Sept 27 with a premiere, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, and quickly followed with Boris Godunov, Turandot, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and next week Porgy and Bess. Carnegie Hall opened in early October with a rich calendar and the New York Philharmonic started its season around the same time. New York has many other venues, including City Center, the Town Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Symphony Space and more. They are all opening their doors and I encourage people to support them. Many of them have created very flexible exchange policies because of the unpredictability of the variants. But we should try to benefit while we can and hope for the best. And get vaccinated, of course. The Insider: You’re also a well-known author and expert on food and cooking, particularly Italian. Many amateur cooks have been seized by the cooking bug during the pandemic. Have you experienced that yourself? Are you working on any new food books now? Fred Plotkin: I can say in full disclosure that I was quite overweight in late 2018. In February, 2019 I embarked on a sane weight loss program--no gimmicks, no radical steps. By March 2020 I had lost a lot of weight and I vowed to keep it off. My health values, as measured by blood work and other ways, had radically improved. I knew that being locked down was dangerous in terms of weight management and I vowed to not ruin all that I had achieved. I also was cooking for my relative, who is a vegetarian who eats fish, aka pescatarian. My goal was to keep her healthy too because that is a necessary defense at a time when it was unsafe to go to doctors, and we did “telehealth” for non-emergencies. I have always known about nutritional science and my previous books, mostly Italian, factored in the need for eating well, something the Italians do perhaps more than anyone else. I cooked from my books, [https://app.1000cookbooks.com/people/fred-plotkin] especially Recipes from Paradise: Life and Food on the Italian Riviera, which the New York Times named the best cookbook of 1997, The Authentic Pasta Book and La Terra Fortunata: The Splendid Food and Wine of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. But I also developed many new recipes that are delicious and healthful. I have acquired a large audience of Facebook followers who see my photos of what I have prepared and I then post recipe guidelines. Will I create a new cookbook? Perhaps. But it most definitely will not be a pandemic cookbook. I don’t want to hear that word again. It will be delicious and healthful eating. I kept the weight off until I got lazy last spring, when I too quickly put on 10 pounds (just under 5 kilos). But I knew how to take it off and did that slowly. By July I was back to my healthy weight. By the way, I have not eaten once in a restaurant since March 9, 2020. From top to bottom: Handmade Ravioli di Ricotta from Capri; Handmade Tagliatelle al Ragù Bolognese; Irish Scrambled Eggs with Leeks and Irish Cheddar with Brown Bread; Minestrone; Pan-Seared Wild Salmon with Quinoa; Florentine Pappa al Pomodoro; Cod Provençal; Insalata Caprese; Pan-Seared Scallops with Corn-Edamame Succotash; One-Bowl Smorgasbord; Mackerel Navarraise The Insider: That’s great! So many of us have gained the dread Covid 19 pounds. Last question: where will you go first when you are able to travel again? Fred Plotkin: When I am able to traveI, I will get the first flight to Italy and head to Bologna. I will rent an apartment with a good kitchen and shop in that city’s glorious markets and cook twice a day. Within two hours of Bologna are at least a dozen great opera houses, so I can revel in that again. I miss Italy terribly. It is half my life. The Insider: Arrivederci! I hope that blessed post-pandemic day comes soon for all of us. Thanks so much for your wonderful work in Fred Plotkin on Fridays, and for taking the time to talk with us. Fred Plotkin: Thanks Andrea. The Insider has been a source of inspiration each week during the pandemic and has helped form a community at a time when that is desperately needed.