DramatistDreamer

These tennis glitterati seem to be losing their minds over this Wild Card madness. SMH.

The FFT President was very clear that they don't give out wildcards to a player who is absent due to a doping suspension. Unlike a smaller tournament in Stuttgart or Madrid, RG is a Major tournament that does not need to rely on any one player to sell tickets and get publicity. I imagine now that Wimbledon will follow RG's lead and not hand her any WCs. EDT. Speaking of Sharapova, Maria just retired from her match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. I think this eliminates her chance of Direct Entry to the Main Draw through ranking. It's likely Qualies or Bust.

Of course, Gimelstob has much to say on the French WC situation.

Speaking of the French, Sharapova will not get a WC of any kind for RG, not a Qualifying, nor Main Draw.

It just gets worse.

As soon as Trump was elected, I told my Mother that this would make effectively make Angela Merkel the new leader of the 'free world'. And what irony for the misogynists who thought HRC was incapable of leading that the seat of power in the Western world (and let's face it, worldwide, really) will now be held by a woman.

People are riding Nick but doesn't Paire's have worse issues? I mean he does this type of thing constantly!

It's what I've been wondering too!

Oh to be a fly on the wall of Bibi Netanyahu's office!

some more photos.

You're welcome @GH_Girl.

Sierra had Bryant all the while Craig was presumed dead (though she never believed this to be true). At one point, Sierra decides that Montega is safe enough to take Bryant with her down to Montega for a brief stay, a few weeks. Craig, just as Sierra believed, is alive and returns to Oakdale with the help of his father-in-law Casey who helps the Greek police + Margo stage an escape by pretending that Craig is James Stenbeck's son. Craig calls Sierra in Montega to confirm that he is alive and they plan their reunion in Montega. Craig stops in Oakdale for a day or two before planning to fly down to Montega but gets stuck in Puerto Rico when he cannot get a flight out because political strife has engulfed the country again. Determined to get to his wife and son, he begs and offers to pay a lot of money to a pilot to get him to Montega, the pilot offers but only on the condition that he be allowed to drop Craig directly onto the runway and after Craig deplanes, the pilot must leave immediately- Craig will have to find his way out of Montega. Craig arrives in Montega and gets to Sierra's childhood home but he sees no sign of Craig or Bryant. In the distance, random gunfire can be heard. Just as Craig starts to panic, he hears a baby's cry and knows it's Bryant. He goes searching and finds Bryant with a longtime nurse from Sierra's childhood on the plantation. Bryant has been hidden and kept safe with the nurse but Sierra is missing. So I think the writing made it seem that Sierra most likely had just been taken earlier that day or recently and she and Craig just missed each other. Most likely Bryant was left with the nurse only a few hours before Craig arrived. Craig ultimately decides that he needs to bring Bryant back to Oakdale for his safety but wants to return to Montega to search for Sierra but eventually Lyla convinces him to stay (so as not to risk Bryant having two parents missing) and conduct the search from Oakdale, which is how both Craig and Lucinda end up getting hustled by Tonio Reyes (Sierra's ex-husband) and funding his supposed search for Sierra that he claimed was being led by the Montegan 'underground'.

This guy seems like he wants out- he's not just pushing the envelope, he's trying to blast it open with dynamite. Is there nobody in government with the courage of conviction to rid this pestilence from the WH? I know, I know, Pence but if he's committing treasonous acts, vile Pence is not enough of an excuse to keep this menace to society.

Federer has withdrawn from the French Open. Not really a surprise.

On my next break, I'm going to dig into this article. This sounds interesting. Young Black Democrats, Eager to Lead From the Left, Eye Runs in 2018

Frances Tiafoe wins a Challenger title on red clay in Aix-en-Provence over Jeremy Chardy in 3 sets (the final set went to a TB). He now moves up to #70 in the rankings. EDT. Actually according to Brad Gilbert, Frances will move up to #65 in the rankings. At 19 years old, that's not bad at all!

That's why Democrats and anyone who cares about the stability of this country need to also focus on getting those f*ckers who voted yes on that monstrosity AHCA bill out of Congress as well as removing those in the Senate who support Trump's sham of a presidency. Comey is unlikely to be the silver bullet to impeachment (though it would be nice) or removal from office. Reading this article on 'small government' run amok and this is truly pathetic. A town library is unattainable? Really??! I'm thinking that soon hordes of young people will be leaving this town for other towns and cities like Portland as fast as they can. Where Anti-Tax Fervor Means ‘All Services Will Cease’

A legal experts states that he believes Trump's firing of Comey constitutes 'High Crimes'. Many people have cited Laurence Tribe, who made this statement, as being a highly respected legal mind. Laurence Tribe: ‘High crimes' in Trump’s firing of Comey Meanwhile, anger and resentment toward GOP House members spills out into Town Hall meetings.

I can be a harsh critic because ATWT was my favorite soap and I grew up watching when the CBS lineup of shows were so well written. I've learned that people like what they like and for some Craig and Sierra might have been an acquired taste, maybe too much of a throwback when you compare them to how couples were written since the millennium and like I said, much of their storylines are absent from You Tube. If I were only seeing them from episodes/clips on You Tube, I might not have thought much of them either. As much as I am grateful for all the fans who so lovingly shared their episodes, I get a bit frustrated that some key storyline conclusions are missing but at least I have memories and blogs, right?

Well, isn't this special.

I loved Sierra and Craig. It's a shame that most of their story arcs are missing from You Tube but I loved both Finn Carter and Scott Bryce, they and Brian Bloom's Dusty and Tom and Margo really hooked me onto As The World Turns. Sorry but Hunt Block wasn't Craig to me, at all. Couldn't stand the way the character was written, couldn't stand the way he was being interpreted. But I really wasn't a fan of a lot of storylines from the show in its last decade. There were still some good actors left on the show but as a longtime fan, I felt largely disconnected from the show by then. I was in Grad school for writing so my writer's cap couldn't let me be anything but critical of the show in it's last decade- I just couldn't enjoy it at all.

Maybe the ghost of Roy Cohn gets tied up trying to advise Trump, ultimately leading to his downfall. Of course, Cohn will blame Trump for not following his advice correctly and causing his own downfall. It's never Roy Cohn's fault, of course (probably where Trump gets this from). Speaking of Theatre of the Absurd, then there's this.

Sometimes writers are dictated by the rhythms and of their writing. Storylines may flow one after another in rapid succession and who is going to turn away from what looks to be a compelling storyline out of worry that it might be too soon? It's like when an athlete is on a hot-streak and wants to 'go with it' because if they question it or go against it, it might dull the creativity. Sometimes I wonder whether being so relentless in writing one story after another may have taken a toll on Marland's health over time.

I actually feel like you're missing a good portion of an emerging storyline by not having seen those missing episodes. The whole thing where Craig ends up getting framed after he follows Sierra up to Foxwood Lodge when she discovers that Tonio had the affair with Barbara. That side part of the story was kind of a big deal, at least for Craig and Sierra fans because all that longing and angst (back when angst was done well on soaps) they had that had been building for about a year, kind of exploded with consequences for the rest of the year and beyond.

Apparently it was sudden and unexpected. Steve Johnson Sr. Passes Away