From the money changes everything file:

$500K prize divides 2 elderly sisters in Conn.

HARTFORD, Conn. – A passion for gambling shared by two once-inseparable octogenarian sisters has ended up dividing them, with the Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that one can sue the other for a share of a winning $500,000 lottery ticket. The court said 83-year-old Theresa Sokaitis, of Middletown, can try to enforce a written contract she signed with her 87-year-old sister, Rose Bakaysa, of Plainville, agreeing to split any gambling winnings.

Sokaitis says she is due a share of a $500,000 Powerball jackpot won by Bakaysa and their brother, Joseph F. Troy Sr., in 2005. "We had an accountant, we had a contract and we had a notary public," Sokaitis said. "We signed the contract together and we agreed to split anything. And when it came time, they didn't even tell me; I saw it in the paper."

. . . Sokaitis said she doesn't want to drag her sister into court but believes she and her family are due a share of the money. "I miss her so much, and I love her, and I don't like what's taken place," Sokaitis said. "But all I want is what is rightfully mine. All I want is my share, nothing more."

This is an Open Thread.

It's barbecue and "Weeds" replay night here. A new salad: spinach, red pepper, avocado and mango slices with a handful or two of blueberries tossed in. Hope the TL kid likes it. If not, there's grilled honey-mustard chicken, corn on the cob and asparagus.

For those of you thinking health care is beyond our reach, this song's for you.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I have court this afternoon, which means an open thread for you. All topics welcome.

Looks like we're all busy at work today. What I'm reading:

• Obama launches a new website for health care reform -- Reality Check. Here's the part on Medicare.

• Border Corruption Probe: Agents taking bribes from smugglers.

  In the past 10 months, 20 agents from Customs and Border Protection alone have been charged with a corruption-related crime. At that pace, the organization will set a new record for in-house corruption.

• Multiple rape claimsin Iran against prison guards by both male and female detained protesters.

  Senior police and judiciary officials acknowledged over the weekend that opposition detainees have been abused in prison and called for those responsible to be punished, apparently in an effort to calm public outrage over the mistreatment and death of prisoners.

Here's an open thread for you, all topics welcome.

I'm headed out for the day. Here's an open thread for those of you online. All topics welcome, please be nice.

The Gators are ranked #1 in the preseason Coaches College Football Poll.

The Yankees lead the Red Sox by 3.5 games after beating them last night 13-6.

All is right in the world of sports.

This is an Open Thread.

Check out Jeralyn's account of the Denver health care reform event in the post below.

This is an Open Thread.

Since I will be at the Pelosi-DeGette-Polis health care event in Denver this afternoon, with my little Flip Video camera and iPhone to document anything interesting, I have to work this morning.

I have been reading with some amusement the back and forth between Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher and their readers on L'Affaire Olbermann (did Immelt make a deal with Murdoch to silence Olbermann's attacks on BillO in exchange for BillO not covering GE?)

My disdain for Olbermann is a matter of record, and the journalistic value of Olbermann's attacks of BillO (or BillO's "reporting" on GE for that matter) seems dubious to me. But the principle matters. Glenn and Jane are right about that. The idea of the corporate interest of a journalistic enterprise driving editorial content is anathema to principled journalism. But when it comes to Olbermann and BillO, I can't get too worked up. Neither are really journalists (though Olbermann has less of a need to depart from reality, for as Rob Cordrry famously remarked, "the facts have a liberal bias.")

Speaking of non-journalists, Arianna has her Clinton Hate on again.

This is an Open Thread.

Your turn.

This is an Open Thread.

I thought yesterday was a slow news day. Today looks even worse.

If you find something interesting to write about, here's an open thread for you, all topics welcome.

I think some of the song lyrics on Spinner's recent compilation of The 20 Worst Lyrics Ever aren't so bad. The reader's choices are better, although I would have elevated their number 10 to number 1:

"Having my baby
What a lovely way of saying
That you're thinking of me"

Or maybe she's saying, "You did this to me you SOB." (By the way, Mr. Anka, "having our baby" would have been a bit less self-centered.)

This is an open thread.