Can Congress please pass a law banning pharmaceutical ads on TV? Only one other country in the world does that - New Zealand. No offense, kiwis, but what’s your excuse? Ours is Congress in the tank for big Pharma. So we won’t ban the ads that pit patients against their doctors. “Why can’t I have that drug? Everyone who takes it seem so happy on TV.”

From champ to goat. After winning the Masters in my fantasy golf group, I will be a bottom-feeder for the PGA. Oh, well. But I’m playing with OPM!

Retire now, D. Feinstein. Don’t be another RBG!

Here’s to all the mothers! We couldn’t have don3 it without you.

Self-fulfilling circular reasoning by Wall Street. “Stocks down as consumer sentiment drops.” Yeah, it’s dropping because the market keeps dropping!

No, I’m sorry. CNN didn’t just air that “town hall” because, after all, Trump is a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. They not only hosted the event, they created it! And what “towns” are populated only by Trump supporters? To use Trump’s often used excuse for a bad showing: It was rigged! I feel sorry for the moderator, Kaitlin Connors, who felt it was her duty to push back on the lies her bosses surely knew would be spewed by Trump. This isn’t 2015-2016 anymore.

CNN. Really?

Rep. McCarthy, when the story of Santos’s fraud came out: “ He hasn’t been charged with anything. It’s up to the voters.”

McCarthy, when Santos was indicted: “Everyone is presumed innocent until proved guilty.”

(Prediction) McCarthy when Santos is convicted: “Let the appeal process play out.”

I did some research! While I can see the rationale taken by The Atlantic, Columbia Journalism Review, the AP Stylebook and others for capitalizing “black” when referring to a person of African lineage (the Chicago Manual of Style favors lowercasing unless the author or publisher deems otherwise), the reason for lowercasing “white” seems contrary to that rationale. Why can’t White represent European lineage, with all the cultural and ethnic history that entails?

Why is it that “black” is capitalized in some news stories concerning a person of color, but “white,” when referring to a Caucasian, never is? Just wondering.

Yet another windy, though sunny, day in SE coastal N.C. Feels like I’m living in Hawaii! But guaranteed, when the hot summer starts, the breezes will stop.

Wow! Didn’t take long to indict Santos. I’m waiting for him to take a page out of Trump’s book and claim it’s a political witch hunt and that the justice system is a disgrace.

Okay, I was wrong about Trump being convicted in the defamation case.But the verdict hasn’t swayed Republican Trumpists, let alone Trump himself, who still claims he doesn’t know who the woman is and brays on that he wasn’t allowed to defend himself at the trial. Really? The judge bent over backwards to give him more time to come to NYC and testify after Trump declared he would do so. Sen. Rubio has called the jury a joke. No matter what happens, the Rs can:t get off the Trump train.

Biden will have to run a marathon and finish at least middle-of-the-pack every month until Nov. 2024 to get the too-old label off him. And that’s not gonna happen. So independents and a few Republicans the Dems could pick off if Trump wins the nomination will balk voting for Biden, afraid he’ll die or become incapacitated, leaving Harris president. And this country, sadly, is not ready for not only a female, but a female of color, to be president.

Gov. Abbott again blames another mass shooting in his state on mental illness. If he really believed that, you’d think he’d push for more spending on mental health in his state. But Texas ranks near the bottom in that kind of support. And he must then think that the U.S., especially his state, has much more mental illness than in other countries. But maybe he thinks anti-abortion, anti-immigrant, antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacy advocates, prevalent in Texas, all have mental illness!

Wake me up when Trump actually, finally gets convicted of something. The defamation case? He’ll skate. Porn star payments? He didn’t want Melanie to find out, that’s all. Georgia? No. Fake electors? “Hey, they were just trying to help me right a wrong.” Inciting insurrection? That’s a bridge too far regarding proof. But the classified documents obstruction of justice case - that could be real jeopardy for him. We’ll see. Meanwhile, I’ll be taking a long nap.

@Novels56 Did you ever notice the prevalence of the hard c, k, and/or hard g in a male movie star’s name. Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Kirk Douglas. I could go on and on. Coincidence?

@TheresaVermont Just wanted to say Hi to a fellow Vermonter! I live in North Carolina now but consider Vermont, where I went to high school, college, and med school my home state. Go Catamounts!

Anyone know of book reviewers who like thrillers? I need reviews for my latest novel!

My modest proposal to fix SCOTUS: Add 4 justices to at least dilute the partisanship and corruption and establish a term limit of 20 years for active service, after which the Justice would enter “senior” status, still get paid, and able to sub in when there’s a temporary vacancy, but not be an active member of the Court. Both these changes would theoretically not require a Constitutional amendment. But of course, a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate would still be needed to pass them.