The Times of Middle Country - October 13, 2022

The TIMES of MIDDLE COUNTRY

Middle

Every year, community members, families, PTAs, and businesses of the Middle Country Central School District come together to donate school supplies and backpacks.

Families of Middle Country

Central School District could pick up donated school supplies and backpacks at their school.

is year was the rst year students received donations from Old Navy, Port Je erson Elk’s Lodge, and Healing Waters

Church. Businesses such as Costco that donated in the past were again contributors this year.

“A huge thank you to everyone who donated school supplies and backpacks to support our students,” said Roberta Gerold,

superintendent of schools. “ e Middle Country Central School District has countless supporters, and we are so grateful to have our community come together for our students.”

Inspired By Long Island exhibit opens at the Mills Pond Gallery

Also: Review of Bros, A Kooky Spooky Halloween returns to Theatre Three B1

Photo courtesy MCCSD

Local LGBTQ community faces numerous challenges, SBM survey says

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

In a first-of-its-kind survey of 1,150 members of the LGBTQ+ community on Long Island, Stony Brook Medicine found that people in this group struggle with numerous health care challenges.

Over two in five people responding to an online survey between June and September of 2021 said they were in fair to poor mental health. Additionally, about one in three people had thoughts of self harm, while 23.9% had seriously considered suicide within the past three years.

People in the LGBTQ+ community are struggling with mental health and access to care, while they also have had negative experiences with health care providers, who may have been making incorrect assumptions about their lives or who haven’t respected them, said Dr. Allison Eliscu, principal investigator of the study and medical director of the Adolescent LGBTQ+ Care Program at Stony Brook Medicine.

Partnering with 30 Long Islandbased community leaders and community organizations, including Planned Parenthood, Stony Brook Medicine created the survey to gather the kinds of data that could inform better health care decisions, could provide a baseline

for understanding the needs of the LGBTQ+ community in the area, and could shed light on the disparity in health care for this community.

“The idea [for the survey] came out when

we were creating the Edie Windsor Healthcare Center” in Hampton Bays, Eliscu said, which opened its doors in 2021 and is the first such center for the LGBTQ+ population on Long

Short-term inclement weather can affect moods

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

October began on a somber note with several days of rain, cloudy weather and blustery winds. For many people, short-term inclement weather can lead to lethargy and depressed moods.

Dr. Veronique Deutsch-Anzalone, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine, is a clinical psychologist who has researched the weather’s effect on people.

The doctor said the first thing many think of regarding lousy weather and mental health is seasonal affective disorder, more commonly known as SAD. Deutsch-Anzalone said SAD is not technically considered a disorder anymore in the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” but now what patients are diagnosed with is depression with a seasonal pattern. She added seasonal pattern is considered a specifier.

“There are actually a lot of conflicting views on whether or not the lack of sun and the increase in cold and darkness causes us to have a depressed mood,” she said, adding that a 2016 study showed no objective data to support that depression is related to either latitude or season or sunlight. The doctor added that some people get depressed only

in the summer.

However, due to many having depression that tends to follow a seasonal pattern, the disorder of depression with a seasonal pattern remains in the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.”

She said similar symptoms that people feel in the winter could be experienced even during short-term weather patterns, such as the recent period of rain, as lack of sunlight has been a factor in psychiatric problems and depression, with females and the elderly being particularly susceptible.

There are a few reasons, the doctor said, that support cloudy, rainy days being accompanied by depressed moods which involves serotonin, a body chemical that has to do with body functions; and melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep.

“We have our circadian rhythms where we’re programmed to be alert when the sun is up and be drowsy when it’s gone, and that is because when the sun goes down our bodies produce melatonin,” she said.

On darker days, the body produces less serotonin. On sunnier days, more serotonin is made, and it’s a neurotransmitter, DeutschAnzalone said. She added, on a cloudy day, people tend to keep the lights low in their homes and cuddle up on the couch to watch TV, which increases sleepiness. In turn, she said, a person may crave carbohydrates,

sugar and salt.

“Unfortunately, when we turn to that kind of food that actually kind of makes us go into more of a slump, and can also cause some people to feel guilty and not very happy with themselves,” the doctor said.

Comfort foods raise serotonin but only briefly, Deutsch-Anzalone said. The best approach is eating healthy and drinking water. The doctor also advised against excess alcohol and caffeine intake, which can cause inflammation and dehydration.

She added an increase in aches and pains during stormy weather also doesn’t help matters. The drop in atmospheric pressure causes body fluids to move from the blood vessels to the tissues, creating more pressure on nerves and joints.

“That can lead to more increased pain or stiffness or reduced mobility, which then of course, makes us a little bit less likely to want to move,” she said.

She said on gloomy days, it can help to turn the lights on inside to increase serotonin and have more energy. Deutsch-Anzalone added some people might need a light therapy lamp or doctors may prescribe vitamin D.

She said it also helps to engage in enjoyable activities to lift one’s spirits. When a person is feeling down and can’t even

Island. “We were trying to think about what we want [the center] to provide and what does the community need.”

Without local data, it was difficult to understand what residents of Long Island, specifically, might need.

The data suggests a disparity between the mental health of the LGBTQ+ community in the area and the overall health of the population in the country.

Over half of the people who took the survey indicated that they had symptoms of chronic depression, compared with 30.3% for the nation, based on a 2020 PRC National Health Survey. Additionally, 23.9% of the LGBTQ+ community described a typical day as “extremely or very stressful” compared with 16.1% for the nation.

To be sure, the national data sampling occurred just prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in February of 2020, while the Stony Brook Medicine survey polled residents during the second year of COVID.

Nonetheless, Eliscu suggested that her anecdotal experience with her patients indicates that the LGBTQ+ community likely suffered even more during the pandemic, as some people lived at home with relatives who may not have been supportive or with whom

Stony Brook Medicine’s Dr. Alison Eliscu, left, was the principal investigator of the study that 1,150 members of the LGBTQ+ community recently participated in including Micah Schneider, right. Eliscu’s photo from Stony Brook Members; Micah Schneider’s from Lisa Czulinski

Eye on the street: The threat of nuclear devastation

BY CAROLYN SACKSTEIN DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Baby boomers likely remember duck and cover drills in schools, backyard bomb shelters and the crippling anxiety of the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. While many thought those fears were long behind us, the ghosts of

Wally Tomaszewski, Port Jefferson

“As far as Ukraine is concerned, of course, they were unjustly attacked by President Putin and Russia. The president of Ukraine has to support his people. The lives that are lost are unfathomable. Ukraine has been in existence a long, long time. They have gotten along with Russia. However, Mr. Putin has got something in his head that he wants to expand his territory and have the people of Ukraine commit to Russia. The killing and maiming of the Ukrainian people is just incredible. The Ukrainian people are fighting back. The Ukrainian military is gaining territory and beating Russians, which is incredible. The reason they are beating the Russians is that the Russian military really doesn’t have the heart to do this to a neighboring country. It is all subject to what Mr. Putin wants and they have to do what he wants. I think it is inhumane.

our past haunt us today.

Today the specter of nuclear disaster seems real with intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine, also North Korea’s continual missile tests. This week we took to the streets to ask locals their thoughts on nuclear weapons, nuclear war and their favored response to elevated aggression abroad.

Jorel Alvarez, Middle Island

“Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is not good for anyone’s sake. Once you use nukes the other person is going to use whatever weapons they have and then it is going to keep going on and the cycle is not going to stop. It is not right that he has this power. It is not right what he is doing in Ukraine.”

They should stop this war immediately. The United States is supporting Ukraine with weapons. There are other countries that are supporting the Ukrainian people and rightly so.”

Michael Osgood, San Francisco

“North Korea is obviously [launching missile tests] to be provocative and to remind the world that it has the technology to cause a lot of trouble. They think that is the way they can stay in power.” Regarding Mr. Putin’s threats, Osgood replied, “I can feel fear in my stomach when I think about that. I mean, could he possibly be insane enough to pull the trigger on such a thing? I hope to God he isn’t.”

Andrew Drake, Stony Brook

Paul Adago Jr., Ridge

“It’s going to affect us as a country, because we can’t have someone just bow to another. We allow that to happen in one portion of the world, then everybody’s going to think, ‘Well, we can do that too.’ We have to step up as a world, whether they’re part of NATO or not. We have to do what’s right for the people. After what we’ve been through in the world in the last two or three years, we have to humble ourselves and look at each other as people.”

Wet Yang, Brooklyn

“I don’t think we can afford nuclear war. I don’t think we should be using nuclear weapons. I don’t believe in the use of nuclear weapons.”

“I think [a nuclear weapon is] the worst thing invented by mankind. We now have the ability to destroy ourselves at any time. It is a horrible thing that exists. I wish it is something we could put back in the box, but we can’t. The sad reality is as long as they exist, we need to have them. There are going to be people that are bad actors. That’s why the United States tries to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. North Korea launching a missile over Japan was obviously scary. I wish there were something else we could do about it, other than what we are doing. I don’t think there

is a military solution, as much as there is a diplomatic solution. We need to incentivize people not to develop these [weapons], or give them the ability to defend themselves in a way that is not going to require mutually assured destruction.”

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress.

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Painting with a Twist (PWAT) is a revolutionary concept that combines wine, art and fun. The franchise itself began in Mandeville Louisiana, 2007 and was originally called Corks N Canvas.

The founders, Cathy Deano and Renee Maloney became friends when their kids attended kindergarten together. Cathy, who was an entrepreneur having previously owned a catering business, a restaurant and a jewelry company and Renee, who was the president of a non- for- pro t art association wanted to uplift their community after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The two women had hoped to create an environment that was fun while inviting people’s creative side to come out by allowing them to feel relaxed and comfortable. They started by renting a small space in Old Mandeville. Mostly by “word of mouth”, people heard of this fun art class, led by an art instructor where you could relax, enjoy a glass of wine and paint. Today Painting with a Twist has over 260 independently owned art studios throughout the United States and has over 17,000 copyrighted artworks, making PWAT one of the largest art libraries in the industry.

As for the purpose part of the business? Cathy and Renee established “Painting with a Purpose, a monthly event held at every studio which proceeds are donated to a local cause. Since, 2007 Painting with a Purpose has donated over 7 million dollars for local charities.

Your local Painting with a Twist is located in Selden (331 Middle Country Road) at the Selden Shopping Plaza.  Painting with a Twist-Selden reopened its doors under new ownership on December 1st, 2021 during the COVID-19 Pandemic. With it currently being Hispanic Heritage Month, I would like to highlight the fact that the new owner is a proud Latina. She is a New York native who recently retired from law enforcement and was looking for a way to bring her community back together post pandemic. Painting with a Twist -Selden is a proud member of the Greater Middle Country Chamber of Commerce, LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Su olk County Women’s Business Enterprise Coalition (SWBEC).

Painting with a Twist-Selden prides itself in being an all- inclusive and safespace for all people.  We have two separate studios with separate entrances and gender-neutral bathrooms for you and your guest’s convenience.  Our studio is ADA (Americans with Disabilities) compliant, air conditioned and heated for your comfort and there is plenty of parking.

Our classes are designed for all ages seven and up. As well as all levels of artistic ability from the novice to the experienced artist. We host private events at our studio including but not limited to birthday parties, baby showers, bachelorette parties and team building events. Larger events can also be held o -site at a location of your choice. We have beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase. Surface upgrades such as wood surfaces or larger canvases are available.

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For those that wish to enjoy a painting night at home we sell “Take Home Kits”. These kits include everything you need to create your masterpiece at home including a link so that you can follow along with the artist. To enjoy one of our painting events; go onto our website at PaintingwithaTwist.com/Selden for a calendar of our upcoming classes. You can conveniently register online or walk in. We look forward to seeing you there soon!

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Two shot outside U. S. Rep. Lee Zeldin’s family home

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The 16-year-old twin daughters of U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY1) called 911 the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 9, after two people were shot outside his home in a drive-by shooting.

Zeldin and his wife, Diana, were returning home from the Bronx Columbus Day Parade in Morris Park, according to a statement from the congressman, when his daughters, who were home in Shirley, heard gunshots and screaming outside at approximately 2:19 p.m.

“After my daughters heard the gunshots and the screaming, they ran upstairs, locked themselves in the bathroom and immediately called 911,” Zeldin said in the statement. “They acted very swiftly and smartly every step of the way, and Diana and I are extremely proud of them.”

Two individuals were shot and laying under Zeldin’s front porch and the bushes in front of his porch.

“My understanding is that they have been transported to area hospitals,” Zeldin said. “I do not know their identities.”

The congressman said he and his family were working with investigators, and he would provide security footage from his home cameras.

“My daughters are shaken, but OK,” he said. “Like so many New Yorkers, crime has literally made its way to our front door. My family is grateful to all who have reached out and we will provide another update when we can.”

Later that day, Suffolk County Police Department released a press release about the Shirley shooting. Two teenagers from Mastic and

Mastic Beach were injured during the incident, according to SCPD.

Three teenagers were walking on the street “when a dark-colored vehicle went by and an occupant fired multiple gunshots through the vehicle’s window at 2:19 p.m.,” the statement read. “Two 17-year-old males were struck and attempted to hide in the yard of a residence on the street. The third teen fled the scene on foot.”

SCPD said they do not “believe there is any connection between the shooting and the residence” in Shirley.

Zeldin is the Republican gubernatorial candidate. He marched in the New York City annual Columbus Day Parade on Monday.

Two people were injured in front of U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin’s house after shots were fired from a car Oct. 9. Photo from Zeldin’s office

LGBTQ COMMUNITY

Continued from A3

they didn’t share their identity.

Additionally, the isolation removed some LGBTQ+ residents from an in-person support network.

Stony Brook Medicine has taken steps to provide specific services to residents who are LGBTQ+. People who are transitioning and have a cervix continue to need a pap smear.

Some members of the transgender community may not be comfortable going to a gynecologist’s office. Stony Brook Medicine has put in place extended hours to meet their needs.

Micah Schneider, a social worker who lives in Ronkonkoma, served as a survey participant and also as a guide for some of the wording in the survey.

Schneider, who identifies as nonbinary and transgender and prefers the pronoun “they,” said the survey can help people “recognize that we’re not alone.”

WEATHER/MOODS

Continued from A3

think of pleasant activities, she suggests googling to find a list of things to do. Some, the doctor added, might be ones a patient hasn’t thought of, such as picking up an instrument, writing poetry or decorating a room. Exercise is also recommended as well as socializing or calling a friend.

Even in the rain, she suggested embracing nature, especially for people who have young children.

“Why not just throw on some raincoats and galoshes, go out and just jump around in the puddles and make those mud pies

When Schneider was growing up, “I had a sense that I was the only person in the entire world dealing with this,” which included a struggle with identity and mental illness.

“We as a community have each other and we can lean on each other,” Schneider said.

As for medical providers, Schneider suggested that this kind of survey can alert these professionals to the need to honor names, pronouns and identities and not make blanket assumptions.

Despite some improvements, the local and national LGBTQ+ community remains at risk, Schneider said.

“There are any number of people who are actively considering suicide,” Schneider added. “It’s a very real crisis in our community.”

On a conference call announcing the results of the survey, Dr. Gregson Pigott, Suffolk County Commissioner of Health, described the survey, which Stony Brook plans to repeat in a couple of years, as “groundbreaking. What you have here is hard data based on the survey.”

with them,” she said. “They’re going to remember that and enjoy it.”

Getting a good night’s sleep is also imperative, she said, since humans’ circadian rhythms are thrown off when it’s dark outside for long periods of time. Napping and lying around the house most of the day also throws off a person’s sleep schedule.

“If you’re able to keep that good sleep hygiene and get a good night’s sleep, that will continue to give you a good amount of energy throughout the day, and it’ll ward off any sort of irritability.”

Deutsch-Anzalone advises anyone who is struggling with their mental health to seek professional help.

Putin’s folly

A birthday setback for the Russian dictator

BY RICH ACRITELLI DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, turned 70 on Oct. 7. He was showered with presents and praise as his soldiers continued to fight an ill-fated and illegal war in Ukraine. The Belarusian leader got him a new tractor. The ruler of Turkmenistan gave him celebratory watermelons. Countries such as Cuba, Turkey, South Africa and Kazakhstan called to wish him a happy birthday.

Yet, as Putin celebrated this milestone year, the septuagenarian dictator received reports that a strategic bridge connecting Russia to Crimea was severely damaged.

This bad news came amid a string of military and strategic blunders, the declining morale of his army and signs of growing internal unrest in Russia. Putin retaliated with missile strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets.

An invasion gone awry

Widely considered a poorly planned military operation, the once-vaunted Russian military has consistently demonstrated tactical weakness in supply, logistics and communications. Putin is deploying his army with massive shortages in weapons and food after his men chaotically abandoned much of their equipment on the battlefield.

Reports suggest that Putin has asked North Korea and China for military hardware to recover its loss of tanks and trucks, which have been destroyed, deserted or captured.

While President Joe Biden (D) has pledged to keep American ground forces out of Ukraine, the United States has continually aided the Ukrainian army. So much American weaponry has been sent to Eastern Europe that America is entering new multibillion-dollar contracts with defense companies to replenish its own national arsenal.

The American military has mentored the Ukrainian officer corps with special warfare and tactical training. The U.S. Department of Defense has given the Ukrainians sensitive intelligence, helping them locate enemy forces and target them through conventional or guerrilla operations.

Currently, the Russian military is bleeding out. Part-time soldiers want no part in this war. Making matters worse for Putin, his

call-up of 300,000 reservists has met stark opposition from the Russian populace.

Putin has even lowered standards for recruitment, allowing the homeless, criminals, wounded soldiers and the middleaged to enlist. The Russian military has become merely a debasement of the oncefierce Red Army, slowly reduced to second and third-rate personnel.

Outfoxed by the Ukrainian president

In the face of overwhelming Ukrainian resistance, many of Putin’s citizen-soldiers have surrendered. Meanwhile, Russian conscripts, with little training, have gone into battle with obsolete weapons and limited food against a motivated enemy gaining momentum.

At every turn, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has outwitted and

outmaneuvered his Russian counterpart. Zelenskyy has sent online messages to the Russian soldiers, declaring they will be treated well in defeat. Some Russians were even offered to be sent to another nation, where they could save their lives by sitting out the war.

Whereas the Ukrainians have proven themselves capable of deterring the Russians, Putin has employed desperate means. Given his nuclear options, we are now hearing about a possible escalation in a conflict that could get much worse.

Domestic unrest

On the home front, the invasion of Ukraine is unpopular; its effects felt the worst by Putin’s own people. Prominent Western businesses pulled out of Russia months ago, initiated by a global economic boycott designed to cripple the Russian economy.

In the name of wrecking Ukraine, Putin has incited demonstrations against his authority. He has tried to suppress these demonstrations and censor news of the conflict. Still, the stories of many Russian losses on every front are too difficult to hide.

Russian citizens have followed the fighting in Ukraine, the heavy losses incurred by their fellow countrymen and the lack of supplies for their soldiers. In Russia, mass border crossings have taken place. Cars, many carrying young men, have been seen deserting conscription to the Russian army.

It is estimated that almost 200,000 reservists have fled Russia. Putin needs soldiers but has not yet resorted to calling upon his massive citizen population for a full-scale draft.

There is much fighting left and additional sacrifices to be made. The Ukrainians, however, have proven that there is no safe place for the Russian military within their territory.

While Putin plays with his new tractor and enjoys his watermelons, he has little else to celebrate on his birthday. He has waged an unjust war against a sovereign nation. His actions have greatly diminished Russia’s power and legitimacy worldwide.

If any of this forecasts a difficult road ahead, Putin’s 70th year will surely be a bad one for him.

Rich Acritelli is a history teacher at Rocky Point High School and adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College. Written in conjunction with members of the high school’s History Honor Society.

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Editorial

Say ‘no’ to nuclear energy, Long Island

The nuclear industry will see major growth thanks to the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, and Long Island communities must again resist calls to go nuclear.

Among other incentives, the new federal law gives tax credits to utility companies that invest in new nuclear plants. While this may benefit other places around the country, such as West Virginia’s coal economy, it will do no good for Long Island.

The decommissioned Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, still standing today, is a living relic of Long Island’s long-standing opposition to nuclear power. At the time of its construction, the plant saw intense local resistance for various reasons.

While efforts to oppose Shoreham proved successful, we know that bad ideas die hard. While nuclear energy sees a renaissance nationwide, let us remember why we are a nuclearfree zone.

Anyone driving on the LIE at rush hour understands the glaring logistical hurdles of evacuating Long Island during a potential nuclear meltdown. It can take hours to get off the Island on any given day of the week. Our mass transit network is outdated and already incapable of supporting this overdeveloped and highly congested regional economy.

In an age of more frequent and intense hurricanes, a nuclear meltdown appears ever more plausible. Swift and successful evacuation seems unlikely, if not impossible. For these reasons, adding nuclear infrastructure would be an existential threat to the health and safety of Long Island residents.

Properly treating and disposing of radioactive material remains an unsettled science. Ridding ourselves of this toxic waste would put a greater strain on our already cluttered roads, highways, tunnels and bridges, further complicating evacuation efforts.

Finally, while we acknowledge that nuclear energy vastly outperforms wind and solar technologies, we should continue exploring these cleaner, safer alternatives. We should limit our carbon footprint and reduce fossil fuel consumption where possible, but we should do so responsibly. Reintroducing nuclear power to Long Island merely swaps one environmental hazard for another, endangering our citizens needlessly.

The apparent ties between our electric service provider and the nuclear industry should give Long Islanders unease, especially since the Long Island Power Authority maintains an 18% stake in the Oswego-based Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station.

History tells us that powerful and monied interests may try to score a quick profit, even at the expense of ordinary folk. In time, some here on Long Island may seek to use the newly available nuclear energy subsidies. We must not let them.

Long Island has never been — and never will be — a safe venue for nuclear energy. We must remember the example of Shoreham, how generations of Long Islanders have fought to keep our island nuclear free. Let us continue their work.

WRITE TO US … We welcome your letters. They should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style and good taste. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include a phone number and address for confirmation. Email letters to: editor1@tbrnewsmedia.com or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

Letters to the Editor

Brookhaven’s undemocratic redistricting process

The Town of Brookhaven’s redistricting process was one of the most undemocratic processes that has ever unfolded on our soil. As the beacon of democracy to the entire world, our processes from local to national are supposed to be the gold standard of the values of democratized processes.

Unfortunately, the broken status quo of Brookhaven Town once again reared its ugly head in the name of protecting vulnerable town councilmember, Michael Loguercio [R-Ridge]. Let’s put this aside for a moment and discuss how the process unfolded.

Public meetings were clustered in the late summer months in a deceptive manner so that few residents knew of the meetings, dates or times. To add insult to injury, these meetings were held when most Brookhaven residents were on vacation with their families. The maps that were provided to residents were mere blobs of color with no legible town lines, street lines, election districts or any other markers. How can anyone properly analyze lines without these markers?

Even after people protested at Town Hall, the latest map was released a few days

before the Sept. 29 Town Board special meeting where a 7-0 vote ratified it.

How can Brookhaven Town’s elected officials possibly stand on a soapbox and pontificate how this process was in any way, shape or form fair to the people of this township, let alone the values that created the longest-lasting democracy in global history?

In my capacity on the board of education of the South Country Central School District in East Patchogue, I advocate relentlessly for the democratic process, and our educators teach our students the value of democracy’s voting process.

Anyone who is honest with themselves and considers themselves a steward of the values of American democracy knows Brookhaven Town’s redistricting process made a three-card Monte table look like a church bake sale in comparison.

And what was the point of this secretive process? To push nearly all of the town of Ridge into Council District 4 to give Loguercio better reelection chances as his margin of victory in 2019 was a mere 816 votes [6,477-5,661].

Faith in America’s institutions is at the lowest point in our history, and our local government has reinforced this fact in the name of a partisan shell game to protect their weakest elected official. With a 6-1 supermajority, the Brookhaven GOP did

not have to throw the democratic process out the window to protect their power. They chose to do so. The people won’t stand for it. Not with so much at stake for our country’s democratic norms.

Cameron J. Trent Bellport

‘Election deniers’ undermine our democracy

Election Day is at hand and “election deniers” have yet to tell us who will assume and who will retain federal office and for how long, if the outcome of elections considered free and fair by the courts does not do so.

“Election deniers” also have yet to explain to us how our democracy will manage the peaceful transfer of power without acceptance of free and fair election results.

If “election deniers” have better answers than free and fair elections, they should spell them out. Give us a chance to consider them.

If there are no better answers, they should end their denial. An unwillingness to do so suggests complicity with the efforts of other actors to undermine our democracy.

Forrest McMullen South Setauket

The decommissioned Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, pictured above. Photo by Paul Searing, sourced from Wikimedia Commons

The welcome words of a Madonna song at a weekend wedding

Ihave

never been as happy to hear a Madonna song as I was this weekend.

Let me back up. My family and I attended our second familial wedding of the last three months. This one was a destination wedding in Ithaca, New York.

Stepping out of the rental car at the hotel on campus, I realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore, as shorts, a T-shirt and a sweatshirt weren’t sufficient for the cooler upstate air.

$7.50 I’ve ever spent at a wedding.

With the wedding in the hotel, we only had to push an elevator button to get to the correct floor.

The bride and groom exchanged vows that they hadn’t previously shared with each other. Not too surprisingly after dating for close to a decade, the vows included many of the same references to things they each enjoyed about their time together, including dancing in the kitchen while making dinners, watching TV shows together during college, and running to the clock tower and back.

suggested.

“Hmm, well,” the groom continued, “thanks so much for coming. I appreciate it.”

“My mom said my grandparents would have wanted us to come, so we came,” the unfiltered young man added.

Fortunately, neither of them could hear me inhale sharply.

Listening to the toasts and comments from the parents of the bride and groom, each side seemed to think the new member of the family would help soothe their partner. Perhaps, that says something about the way the bride and groom interact with their parents?

dance floor once the music started. My wife, children and I love to dance, with each of us smiling and shimmying as we jump, sway and sing the lyrics of the music. Somehow, our daughter knows the words to just about every song at most of these events, singing and shouting them to her cousin’s girlfriend, who has the same encyclopedic knowledge of modern music. I chime in with the chorus, while our son glides around, often with his arms in the air.

D. None of the above

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF

In the hours before the ceremony on Saturday, my son, brother-in-law, his grown sons and I threw a tiny gift shop Nerf ball around on the baseball field, while surrounded by a visual collage of multi-colored foliage. That tiny football was probably the best

took

During the cocktail hour, I excused myself from my social circle to go to the bathroom, where I overheard the first of two unusual restroom conversations. The groom and his young cousin were chatting.

“You know the secret to a successful marriage?” the young man asked, eager to share the accelerated wisdom he’d accrued during his short life.

“What’s that?” the groom asked gamely.

“Separate vacations,” the sage young man

After dinner and before the music started, I returned to the restroom. This time, a man was standing at the sink, washing his hands.

“Out of respect for the gentleman who just walked in, I’m going to end our conversation about poop,” he said to a friend in the stall.

“Oh, uh, I’ll be leaving soon,” I offered, not wanting to interrupt.

“It’s okay,” he added. “We were done.”

Returning to the ballroom, I raced to the

And here’s where Madonna came in. After bending my knees and swaying to numerous rap songs I had never heard before, I was thrilled to hear the familiar intro to a Madonna hit.

Buoyed by throwback sounds from an earlier decade, I threw myself around the floor, crooning for all I was worth.

When the rap songs returned, I scanned the floor and saw the bride, groom and their friends sharing their euphoria for the moment and for their familiar music. While Frank Sinatra never made an appearance, the happy couple were clearly doing it their way.

and believe the drug shortened my recovery from COVID

Thismessage is for older people who are reading this column and may get COVID-19. The information may save your life. It may have saved mine.

Especially for older people, COVID is a deadly virus. What defines older? Let’s say, beyond 50. Now there is a medicine that dramatically reduces severity and possible death from this virus, but many Americans are not taking it. Its name is Paxlovid.

Center, when interviewed by The New York Times.

Both random trials and data from electronic health records have shown this medicine to be effective, particularly among older patients. The medicine works by inhibiting the virus’s replication once it invades the body. Its underuse is already associated with thousands of preventable deaths, according to Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the medicine department at the University of California, San Francisco.

fruit containing fiber and some essential vitamins and minerals.

Another possible reason is the association of Paxlovid with “rebound,” a second session of the disease which can occur a week to a month after the end of the first round. Experts don’t know what causes the rebound. A rebound is possible even if the patient never used Paxlovid. And even if he or she did, perhaps a longer duration of the drug is necessary for some patients than the five days currently administered.

‘COVID fatigue.’ COVID is clearly less lethal now than during prior surges, thanks in large part to vaccinations, but it still causes some hospitalizations. Those at highest risk of severe disease, particularly those who are unvaccinated, benefit from antiviral treatment if they are infected.”

“A large chunk of deaths are preventable right now with Paxlovid alone,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID response coordinator told David Leonhardt of The New York Times. He predicted that if every American 50 and above with COVID received a course of either Paxlovid or monoclonal antibodies, daily deaths might fall to about 50 per day, from about 400 per day.

So why aren’t people taking the medicine?

Research has shown that out of sample of 568,000 patients, 0.016% over 50 who used Paxlovid died. For a similar cohort of patients who did not use the drug, the death rate was four times higher or 0.070. But only 25% of patients eligible to receive the drug actually took it, even though it is available and free.

BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF

“Never really in recent history for a respiratory virus can I think of an anti-viral medication being as effective, demonstrated in scientific literature, as what Paxlovid has shown,” stated Dr. Rebecca Wang, an infectious disease specialist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical

For one reason, Paxlovid, which is taken twice a day for five days, does leave a metallic taste in the mouth. So I found that by eating half a banana after each dose, I got rid of the unwelcome taste. I also got the benefit of a banana a day, which is a healthy and nutritious

BEACON RECORD

NEWS MEDIA

Thanks to my son, Daniel Dunaief, who has spoken with two infectious disease experts, we also have some local reaction to the drug. Dr. Andrew Handel, pediatric infectious disease physician at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, commented, “Hesitancy to take Paxlovid seems to fall in line with the general

Dr. David Galinkin, infectious disease expert at St. Charles Hospital, said, “The media has overblown this rebound experience. In the literature, about 10% of cases [have a rebound.] Like any other medication, people that could really benefit from Paxlovid [should consider it.] … We are still seeing people dying from this.” Perhaps more doctors could be better informed about this drug. Additional information and encouragement are needed from the White House, and a lot more public announcements should be placed in the media to reach people. As has been the case throughout these last two-and-one-half COVID years, instructions have been changing, adjusted as the scientific and medical professions learn more about this pathogen. Proper treatment is still a work in progress.