WHO IS FREIDA MCFADDEN?

I'll get to Freida later, but will start with another Democratic Party strategy to win the presidential election.  If just another 2% of voters can be swayed to vote for them because of this issue, that will make a huge difference in various races, especially for Congress, which is looking more and more like Republican victories in both chamber of Congress.  That bit of strategy is the Supreme Court.  This further shows how important President Joe Biden is in this presidential campaign.

Biden today announced a program to reform the Supreme Court, including term limits. Will these measures pass through Congress in the coming years?  Nah, but just the mentioning of their brokenness, will gain a few votes for Democrats, as members of the court have had scandal problems, while the whole body has become unpopular for their decisions on abortion rights and the environment, while making Donald Trump immune from prosecution, increasing the chances of his destroying Democracy if he prevails on November 5.  The Supreme Court is now at an historic high in disapproval rating.

One more matter of politics.  The New York Times today reported that the three most likely running mate for Kamala Harris are all current governors and former attorney generals for their state:  Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Andy Beshear of Kentucky.  Mark Kelly of Arizona is not a lawyer, and probably will not be selected because the Democrats could lose a Senate seat should he abdicate.

• 
  If Democrats want to develop a candidate for 2032, Beshear would be the best, for he is only 46-years old.  However, he only brings a smaller state to the table for electoral votes, and it is important to do well this year.
• Cooper is 67 and shows maturity with calm affability.  A good match for Harris, and no threat to future Democratic hopefuls.
• Shapiro is the same age as Harris, 59, and they have known each other for nearly two decades.
• An interesting facet of all this is that Biden's son Beau (that's him to the right), when he passed away, was Delaware's attorney general.  It was he who had recommended Harris as a running mate for his father.

About the Paris Summer Olympics:

• Japan has the most gold medals with 6, but the USA has 20 total medals.  #2 France with 16.
• Simone Biles hurt her lower leg yesterday, but still made the finals for all four events, which occur tomorrow.  The media says calf, but it surely looks like ankle to me.  The USA women's gymnastics team is in good position to prevail.
• 
  Australia women doing well in swimming.  To the right, Mollie O'Callaghan (gold) and Ariarne Titmus (silver) for the 200m freestyle.
• However, their first gold was from road cyclist Grace Brown.

• 
  The country has 460 athletes competing for medals in 329 events, everything but fencing, handball and volleyball.
• Australia has won 167 gold and 557 total medals over the years, the first two golds by Edwin Flack in Athens 1896 for swimming.  221 of all their medals have come from this sport.

This is Paris, so some fashion.  Zendaya and Law Roach produced for the Opening Ceremony pre-Olympics party a gown for the Louis Vuitton Foundation, with, of course, a Louis Vuitton bag.  27-year old Zendaya Coleman is the model, and the second is a vintage white Jean-Charles de Castelbajac romper.

So on to the posting of the day.  Freida McFadden is a mystery.  

• This is her pen name.
• Can't find her real name nor age.  Really big secret.

• 
  Has the #1 book, The Housemaid, on the New York Times Paperback Trade Fiction list.  Has been on this list now for 65 weeks.  Also, # 4 (6 weeks on list) The Housemaid is Watching, and #5 (9 weeks on list) The Housemaid's Secret.
• From Amazon about The Housemaid:  An absolutely addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist.  Read this summary.  There will be a movie.

Don't confuse that book with a 2016 Korean movie, The Handmaiden, an almost erotic production.  Rotten Tomatoes scores of 96/91.

• 
  Spent her undergraduate years at Harvard and is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury.  Reminds me of Robert Crichton, graduated from the Harvard medical school, and posthumously has a book, Eruption, currently at #5 on the hardcover fiction list.

From My Double Life, by Frieda McFadden:

• Is married with children.  Has a black cat, and they live in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean.
• Has published 15 books on Amazon.
• She hasn't told her bridge group, nor moms of kids with her ADHP group about her double life.
• She does occasionally admit to some people that she is also an author.
• The reason why she keeps this a secret is that, as a physician, she does not want to worry them that she writes psychological thrillers.  She also specializes in medical humor novels.
• Responds to emails.  Don't know her email address.

-