California’s governor race features 61 candidates — including a man who changed his name to Barack Obama
ConservativeInstitute.org | May 21, 2026 | Daniel Vaughan
California voters opening their ballots for the June 2 gubernatorial primary will find sixty-one names staring back at them, a field so bloated it reads less like a serious election and more like a monument to the state’s remarkably low barriers to entry.
Among the crowd: a man who legally changed his name to Barack D. Obama Shaw, a candidate who goes by “LivingForGod AndCountry DeMott,” and a former congressman who dropped out after sexual assault allegations but whose name remains printed on the ballot anyway.
Pottery Corner
Bond Girlathon Friday : Results from 5/22/2026 : New Matches for 5/29/2026

I see fun on the horizon.
Results for 5/22/2026
| Margaret Nolan | No Preference | Zena Marshall |
|---|---|---|
| 118 | 0 | 41 |
| (13) Claudine Auger | No Preference | Eunice Gayson |
|---|---|---|
| 136 | 1 | 27 |
New Matches for 5/29/2026
Match 1
Luciana Paluzzi (Fiona Volpe) vs (9) Lana Wood (Plenty O’Toole)
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Luciana Paluzzi | 3 – 3 – 0 | 569 – 9 – 669 |

Actress: Luciana Paluzzi Nationality: Italian Bond Movie: Thunderball (1965) Synopsis:
Fiona Volpe was the archtypical Bond henchwoman, with the task of seducing men into traps. She was feisty and more competent than many of the henchmen in the Bond films. She met her end while dancing with Bond; a henchman tried to shoot Bond in the back, but he quickly spun round and the bullet killed Fiona instead.

VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| (9) Lana Wood | 5 – 1 – 0 | 832 – 2 – 498 |

Actress: Lana Wood Nationality: American Bond Movie: Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Synopsis:
Plenty O’Toole was a gold digger from Las Vegas. She helped a man gamble at the craps table, but when he lost all of his money, she lost interest. She turned to leave, but went back after hearing James Bond ask for $10,000 in chips. She helped Bond play craps, and after winning $50,000, she went back to Bond’s suite. Bond girl Tiffany Case was waiting there for Bond, and some mobsters threw Plenty out of the window into the pool below.

Match 2
Marye Guy Mitsouko (Mademoiselle La Porte) vs Trina Parks (Thumper)
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Marye Guy Mitsouko | 1 – 5 – 0 | 415 – 14 – 864 |

Actress: Maryse Guy Mitsouko Nationality: French Bond Movie: Thunderball (1965) Synopsis:
Mlle. La Porte was Bond’s French liaison during his attendance of SPECTRE agent Jacques Bouvar’s funeral. She informs Bond that Bouvar passed away in his sleep, and as the two leave the funeral she ends with “Is there anything else our French station can do for Monsieur Bond?”, to which Bond replies, “Later, perhaps.”

VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Trina Parks | 0 – 6 – 0 | 65 – 6 – 1013 |

Actress: Trina Parks Nationality: American Bond Movie: Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Synopsis:
Thumper and Bambi attack Bond, kicking him and using their martial art skills to overcome him. Bond was at a loss, the two girls too nimble for him. However, Thumper and Bambi then throw Bond into a pool, and they lose their advantage, Bond managing to push their heads underwater until they give in and reveal where Willard Whyte is being kept.

Straight Line of the Day: If You Were To Create a Summer of Chaos, How Would You Start?
Almost 700 migrants cross Channel in 48 hours as ‘summer of chaos’ warning issued
Express | Sun, May 24, 2026 | Katie Harris
Almost 700 small boat migrants have arrived in Britain in the past two days …
And more made the crossing today with migrants pictured making gestures after boarding a dinghy in Dunkirk, France.
I Figure I’m Wicked Smart
Cartoons and Memes
The View From Iran
Straight Line of the Day: Would You Have Had an A.I. Girlfriend? Why or Why Not?
The terrifying rise of schoolboys making AI girlfriends
The Telegraph | 05/25/2026 | Nicole Mowbray
2026
‘Twas in truth an hour
Of universal ferment; mildest men
Were agitated, and commotions, strife
Of passion and opinion, filled the walls
Of peaceful houses with unquiet sounds.
The soil of common life was, at that time,
Too hot to tread upon; oft said I then,
And not then only, “What a mockery this
Of history, the past and that to come!”
— Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book 9
Bond Girlathon Wednesday : Results from 5/20/2026 : New Matches for 5/27/2026

We have 3 make-up matches for you this week. Enjoy them all.
Results from 5/20/2026
| Berenice Marlohe | No Preference | Gloria Hendry |
|---|---|---|
| 160 | 3 | 26 |
| (8) Jane Seymour | No Preference | (7) Britt Ekland |
|---|---|---|
| 128 | 1 | 71 |
Matches for 5/27/2026
Match 1
(4) Gemma Arterton (Strawberry Fields) vs Tonia Sotiropoulou (Bond’s Lover)
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| (4) Gemma Arterton | 7 – 0 – 0 | 1052 – 7 – 436 |

Actress: Gemma Arterton Nationality: English Bond Movie: Quantum of Solace (2008) Synopsis:
Strawberry Fields was an MI6 office worker in Bolivia at the British consulate. She was tasked with ensuring that James Bond flew back home, but she ultimately failed. She spent the night with Bond and went with him to Dominic Greene’s fundraiser, helping him escape by tripping one of Green’s henchmen. Greene got his revenge by leaving her dead on Bond’s bed, covered in oil from head to toe, in a throwback to Jill Masterson from Goldfinger.

VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Tonia Sotiropoulou | 2 – 5 – 0 | 603 – 16 – 757 |

Actress: Tonia Sotiropoulou Nationality: Greek Bond Movie: Skyfall (2012) Synopsis:
Tonia Sotiropoulou was credited only as “Bond’s lover”, and appeared in a brief scene with no lines or conversation with Bond. They made love, and were then shown lying on a bed, Bond drinking a beer. She is the only girl on this list that didn’t have a speaking role, and is perhaps the least memorable of all Bond girls.

Match 2
(10) Lea Seydoux (Madelaine Swann) vs (2) Diana Rigg (Teresa di Vicenzo)
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| (10 Lea Seydoux | 4 – 3 – 0 | 869 – 9 – 532 |

First appearance Spectre (2015) Last appearance No Time to Die (2021) Portrayed by Léa Seydoux Madeleine Swann is a complex character introduced in the James Bond film Spectre. Madeline Swann is the daughter of Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), a member of the criminal organization SPECTRE.
Swann studied at the University of Oxford and at Sorbonne University, and later worked with Doctors Without Borders.[1] By the time of Spectre she is working as a psychiatrist at a private clinic in the Austrian Alps.
Dying of thallium poisoning, White tells James Bond (Daniel Craig) to protect his daughter from SPECTRE, so Bond goes to see her at the clinic. Although Swann is initially hesitant to trust Bond, she agrees to share information about SPECTRE and help Bond take the organization down. The two gradually fall in love, and Bond ultimately leaves MI6 to be with her after arresting Blofeld.

VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| (2) Diana Rigg | 7 – 0 – 0 | 1394 – 7 – 370 |

Actress: Diana Rigg Nationality: English Bond Movie: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) Synopsis:
Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo was the most important girl in Bond’s life, becoming Mrs Tracy Bond by the end of the film. Starting out troubled and suicidal, Tracy was rescued by Bond, who gradually fell in love with her. At their wedding, Bond vowed that they would have all the time in the world together. In a tragic twist of irony, Tracy was assassinated by Ernst Stavro Blofeld as the pair were stopped at a roadside to remove the flowers from their car.

Match 3
Gloria Hendry (Rosie Carver) vs Catherine Schell (Nancy)
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Gloria Hendry | 1 – 6 – 0 | 203 – 24 – 1208 |

Actress: Gloria Hendry Nationality: American Bond Movie: Live and Let Die (1973) Synopsis:
Rosie Carver was an inept and incompetent double agent, working for the CIA and for heroin baron Dr. Kananga. She checked into Bond’s hotel room as Mrs. Bond, and said she would take him to the spot where Bains, another MI6 agent, was killed. While picnicking near the area, Bond confronts Rosie, revealing that he knows she is working for Kanaga. Bond threatens to kill her, and Rosie runs away, only to be killed by a hidden gun in one of Kanaga’s scarecrows.

VS
| Contestant | Record | Total Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Catherine Schell | 3 – 4 – 0 | 638 – 15 – 935 |

Actress: Catherine Schell Nationality: Hungarian Bond Movie: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) Synopsis:
After sneaking into Ruby Bartlett’s room in the swiss clinic, Bond had returned to his own room. He said to himself in the mirror, “Hilly, you old devil”, before noticing that another patient, Nancy, had snook into his room. Being the only man in the clinic, Bond had attracted the fancy of several of the girls.

Straight Line of the Day: If You Put Up Two Conflicting Billboards in NYC, What Would They Be?
Two Billboards In New York Capture The Conflict Of Our Time: One billboard is selling artificial intelligence, the other is warning about it.
Epoch Times | 05/24/2026 | Kay Rubacek
Caption This!
Babesleaga Group AM : Eva Renzi vs Ursula Andress
Good night.
Eva Renzi vs Ursula Andress
Eva Renzi (1-2-0 Pts. 107 Avg. 35.67)
- Week 1 Defeated Jean Seberg 54-25
- Week 2 Lost to Elke Sommer 26-56
- Week 3 Lost to Sharon Tate 27-42

VS
Ursula Andress (3-0-0 Pts. 146 Avg. 48.67)
- Week 1 Defeated Sharon Tate 48-44
- Week 2 Defeated Mary Ure 58-24
- Week 3 Defeated Dyan Cannon 40-28

Babesleaga Group AM : Week 4 : Sharon Tate vs Tuesday Weld
Good evening.
Sharon Tate vs Tuesday Weld
Sharon Tate (2-1-0 Pts. 150 Avg. 50.00)
- Week 1 Lost to Ursula Andress 44-48
- Week 2 Defeated Jean Seberg 64-23
- Week 3 Defeated Eva Renzi 42-27

VS
Tuesday Weld (2-1-0 Pts. 153 Avg. 51.00)
- Week 1 Lost to Elke Sommer 44-47
- Week 2 Defeated Dyan Cannon 51-29
- Week 3 Defeated Jean Seberg 58-12

Babesleaga Group AM : Week 4 : Elke Sommer vs Dyan Cannon
Good afternoon.
Elke Sommer vs Dyan Cannon
Elke Sommer (3-0-0 Pts. 161 Avg. 53.67)
- Week 1 DefeatedTuesday Weld 47-44
- Week 2 Defeated Eva Renzi 56-26
- Week 3 Defeated Mary Ure 58-12

VS
Dyan Cannon (1-2-0 Pts. 114 Avg. 38.00)
- Week 1 Defeated Mary Ure 57-26
- Week 2 Lost to Tuesday Weld 29-51
- Week 3 Lost to Ursula Andress 28-40















