But first, some news of the day.- The New York Times this morning had some nice history of gerrymandering, which is what Democrats in California pulled off on election day this week with Proposition 50.
Lawmakers realized in the 19th century that they could increase their party’s political power by redrawing legislative districts. The term of art is gerrymandering, named after the map for the Massachusetts State Senate drawn under Gov. Elbridge Gerry. (One district looked like a salamander. Get it?) Typically, legislators gerrymander once a decade, after the census.
Today, gerrymandering is a weapon of constant political warfare. State legislators, both red and blue, are furiously redrawing congressional maps in a quest to control the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections.
The skirmishing began in August, when Trump persuaded Texas lawmakers to redraw congressional districts, which will probably let them send five more Republicans to Congress. California fought back on Tuesday and will probably deliver five seats to the Democrats. Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have also drawn new maps. A dozen or more other states are considering it.
- This year’s U.N. climate conference begins today in Brazil. The U.S. is skipping it.
- Russia is on the verge of capturing its biggest prize since 2023, a Ukrainian city that is a gateway to a region that Vladimir Putin covets.
The new prices represent a significant reduction from the current list prices, which can exceed $1,000 per month without insurance or discounts.
| Medication | Current List Price (approx.) | Expected New Price (TrumpRx, cash) |
|---|---|---|
| Zepbound (injection) | >$1,000 | ~$350 (dropping to $250) |
| Wegovy (injection) | >$1,000 | ~$350 (dropping to $250) |
| Upcoming Oral Pills | N/A (not yet approved) | ~$149 - $150 (initial dose) |
- The new price for Zepbound and Wegovy injections will in time drop to $250/month.
Pill could be approved in 2026. - Those with severe obesity will soon be able to access these drugs under medicare and only have a co-pay of $50/month, perhaps by mid 2026, depending on the state.
- All the above not a real surprise, for Americans are presently spending as much as 520% for Zepbound and 1400% more for Wegovy than patients in Europe.
Read Forbes on their weight loss drug injections ranking for 2025. In clinical studies: Zepbound users reported nausea in about 25% of cases, diarrhea in 19%, and constipation in 17%. Wegovy users experienced similar issues, with nausea in 24.3%, constipation in 14.6%, and diarrhea in 7.1%.
Next, read this morning's op-ed by Froma Harrop titled, Georgia, not New York, told the big story on election night. Who is she?
- A born New Yorker who graduated from New York University in 1972.
- Was Business editor for The New York Times News Service, and serves as a columnist.
- Still lives in New York City.
As my end nears, I get more and more fixated on something called death. In many ways, all of us think about our eventual demise, but maybe me more than others. For example in my book on SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity, I write about executions, like three strikes and you're dead. This blog site also has several postings on the subject:
- 13June2009, Simple Solution for Crime: Three Strikes and You're Dead.
- 5March2015, Update on "Three Strikes and You're Dead."
- 14January2025, Three Strikes and You're Dead: this was on a nostalgic Tuesday.
Then, there is that matter of assisted suicide.
- I live in a senior's community, and I am assured of living here for the rest of my life on the second hospital floor.
- But merely living and living well are very different.
- If I ever reached that latter stage of life, I have contemplated the possibility of going to Switzerland, for around $10,000, they will, well, kill you. One of my posting last year touched on that.
- However, I found a more recent article, and the price must be up to $20,000.
- On the matter of euthanasia or assisted suicide in the U.S., this can only occur a few states, like Hawaii, if you are already diagnosed to die shortly, although those in extreme pain might well qualify. There is a large gray area.
- And there is a difference in those practices:
Assisted suicide is similar to, but distinct from, euthanasia (sometimes called "mercy killing"). In cases of euthanasia, another party acts to bring about the person's death, in order to end ongoing suffering. In cases of assisted suicide, a second person provides the means through which the individual is able to voluntarily end their own life, but they do not directly cause the individual's death.
There was a period of my life when I wrote for the Huffington Post. Some of my articles dealt with death.
A decade ago I posted NITROGEN: KILLING WITH KINDNESS.
- I indicated that Chapter 1 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity advocated the use of nitrogen to execute criminals.
- Why kindness? Because it is painless and reasonably humane.
- I ended with: Suicide is Painless was used in the film when camp dentist, Captain Walter "Painless Pole" Waldowski (guy in white), contemplated suicide, becoming the theme for the TV series. That song? I provided some details in one of my postings: the song's lyrics was written in five minutes by Mike Altman when he was 14 years old. His father, Robert, directed the film, and said on the Johnny Carson Show that in the 80's he only made $70,000 from the film, but that his son earned millions from the song.
- Alabama was the first state to use nitrogen for executions, Kenneth Eugene Smith on 25January2024.
- Alabama is was also the most recent, Anthony Boyd on 23October2025 as the seventh to be killed in that state. Louisiana is the only other state to do this, once.
- There have been legal challenges, because:
Witnesses have described the executions as difficult to watch, with the condemned individuals exhibiting involuntary movements, shaking, gasping for air and violent thrashing. This has renewed debate over the humaneness of the method.
- In Boyd's execution, it took 7 minutes, or 38 minutes, depending on who you ask.
- The three liberal Supreme Court associates decried this form execution. However, it appears that the Supreme Court will allow the continued use of nitrogen.
- An injection can take from under 10 minutes to over an hour. Texas, only since October of 2024, has spent more than $775,000 to acquire pentobarbital, the drug used in six lethal injections.
- The electric chair can take from 2 to over 15 minutes.
- Firing squad usually under a minute.
I end today with another end, the announced retirement plan of Nancy Pelosi. We are the same age, 85, although she is around 6-months older than me.
- Her father was a congressman, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr, and she was raised in Baltimore. Her father also served as mayor of that city, and so did her brother Thomas.
We both graduated from college in 1962, and while I got married that year, she linked with businessman Paul Pelosi the following year. They settled in San Francisco, where she mostly raised her family.
I spent a lot of my life from college at Stanford to working for NASA's Ames Research Center and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, all in the Bay Area- Close to Phil and John Burton, powers in San Francisco politics.
Pelosi is now in her 20th House term...since 1987. When I worked for the U.S. Senate, she had not yet arrived.- In 2002 became the first woman to lead a major party in either chamber of Congress.
Became House speaker in 2007, which initially extended until 2011, which means she regularly clashed with Donald Trump in his first term as President. She is 5'5" tall and usually won those battles.- But Trump remembered, for when he first heard her retirement announcement, he called her an evil woman. Watch that video.
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