Greetings! Pope Leo has criticized the Trump administration in the past.  What are the odds POTUS picks a fight in the next six months with the new leader of the Catholic church?...It’s exactly 400 days until Trump’s 80^th birthday.  Never too early to start planning a $20 million military parade to celebrate our mad king….Weekend Watch: Offbeat pick today. The magnificent inlets and bays of Long Island are on my mind as I head out tomorrow to the Jones Beach Inlet to start my summer fishing routine. Therefore, it’s only natural that I’m recommending the short documentary The Bay Houses of Long Island.  Available for free on YouTube (betcha thought I was going to pick Conclave)....Weekend Read: I have an enduring respect and admiration for our steadfast ally and neighbor to the north. So it’s only fitting this week that I steer you toward a couple of nonfiction books I just finished about two of Canada’s favorite sons.  Lorne, written by Susan Morrison, takes a deep dive into the life, times and heady accomplishments of Lorne Michaels, the creator and guiding force behind “Saturday Night Live.”  Both the show and Canadian-born Michaels are still going strong after 50 years.  Former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, another Canadian, weighs in with a cheerful look at his charmed life (and virtually unlimited expense accounts) in Manhattan’s glitzy magazine trenches of the 90s and aughts in the autobiography When the Going Was Good.  Both Michaels and Carter had an outsize influence on American culture and we are all richer because of it.  Thank you Canada!...If you keep reading, I’ll keep scrolling. Howard

Greetings! The far-right One America News Network is going to provide programming for free to the Voice of America, which is funded by the U.S. government.  That’s according to VOA senior advisor Kari Lake. The VOA is supposed to be a neutral news source broadcasting across the globe.  In case you’ve forgotten, OAN erroneously stated that Trump won the 2020 election. And former far-right Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was accused of child sex trafficking, is one of the network’s prime time anchors. (Reuters)…What’s Trump’s worst idea since tariffs?  The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal says it’s drug price controls… Smart! Earlier this week, Trump announced that the 2027 NFL draft will be held on DC’s National Mall.  As much as it pains me to say this, the initiative really helps bond his movement to young men, a notoriously hard demographic to reach.  It’s one of the reasons ESPN chatting head Stephen Smith has been mentioned as a longshot Dem candidate in 2028. (NBC Sports)…Neil Kemp, one of TheRighting’s faithful readers in Canada, has a bone to pick with Americans voting Trump into office last November.  In his Letter to TheRighting, he writes that in Canada’s recent election, Canadians choose the liberal Mark Carney because he was anti-Trump and was “somebody to deal with the asshole you gave your government to.” Point taken Mr. Kemp!...And finally some good news about ice (the substance, not the federal agency). Newsmax reports that the Antarctic ice sheet had record-breaking growth between 2021 and 2023. Not sure I fully believe, but I hope it’s true…If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting.  Howard