Friday Night Vodka-Buzz. Ask me anything...

And a lifetime of eternal friendship to all those who can cheer me up.

I just can't make the throw from deep-center anymore, Coach...

Ever heard: "The won the war, but lost the peace"?

We won the Cold War, but we're losing the Cold Peace...

GODDAMMIT! I WANT TO CRACK HEADS TOGETHER!

Just visited with a new patient who is in the US seeking asylum from gang violence in Mexico. She crossed the border legally in El Paso, and already has an asylum plea in the works.

She has an ankle bracelet affixed by Immigration, plain to see during her visit. There's no need for it; she has family here who can vouch for her. A woman seeking safety for herself and her children from criminals in Mexico is being treated like a criminal here in the U.S.

I just want to commit murder sometimes...

Just got a call on my phone from a number I didn't recognize. I answered it in Russian.

I threw a few phrases out in Russian while the person (from what scam operation, I don't know) kept asking to speak to me by name. My replies in Russian grew louder until eventually I said Ya nye govreet pa Inglizi! (I don't speak English!) whereupon she hung up.

What fun...

Just found a guy shooting up on the clinic's doorstep.

I told him to take it somewhere else. I was pretty harsh with him, and I regret it. But I didn't know what else to do. People come to the clinic and sleep in underneath the overhead to get out of the rain a little until the clinic opens, and I'm okay with that. But not the shooting up. I don't want the cops coming around cracking heads because they think we're a shooting gallery.

It's going to be a long week, but at least I'm not on call anymore...

Can anyone imagine a scenario in which Senate Repubs convict in order to usher in Pence?

Mike Pence is much more in line with what the GOP wants from a President. He's malleable, understated, and won't go off the reservation like Trump does.

Would the GOP accept the bloody nose of first President impeached and removed from office if the tradeoff is a less-volatile Pence Presidency?

I think they might, but only if he had a prayer of winning in 2020. He doesn't have...God...whatever it is the repukes see in Trump, the thing they slavishly adhere to, the thing they would commit murder for, the thing they sell their souls for. In 2020, the Democratic Party could nominate a freshly-painted panel of wood, and it could beat Pence in the General.

Friday Night Vodka Buzz. Ask me anything.

Navy veterans: my plan for a new naming program for our aircraft carriers.

Full disclosure: I'm ex-Army, but I'm still fascinated by naval vessels.

I have to tell you, I'm pretty sick and tired of having our carriers named for famous figures in American history. And I think it's a really bad idea to name them after Presidents. After all, Cadet Bonespurs could, theoretically, get one named after him someday.

Carriers used to be named after battles, like Lexington, Saratoga, or Iwo Jima. Or after famous American ships from the Age of Sail, like Hornet, Wasp, or Enterprise.

I'd like to start a new program whereby carriers take their names only from either the original six frigates (other than Constitution, of course) or else the names of the states, like they used to do with battleships, (with the exception of Arizona and Utah. )

That would leave us with fifty-three names for new carriers. With state names, we could bestow them in the order the states entered the Union, i.e. U.S.S. Delaware, etc.

What do you think of that idea?

Help from our Hispanic DU-ers: When did the name Olga become so popular in the Hispanic community?

I know three Hispanic-American Olgas, including my clinic scheduler. I asked her if there is a tradition of naming Hispanic girls Olga, and she replied not as far as she knew.

I know it's originally a Russian name, although none of the Russian-American women I know are named Olga. I'm just wondering how that cultural cross-pollination happened.

Something that proves that perception is everything: I used to think Olga was an ugly name. Then I met a woman named Olga who was just drop-dead gorgeous. It turned me around on the name. I'm an idiot...

Mmm. Cocoa and sea-salt oatmeal. Where have you been all my life?...