• Splenda no longer "tastes like sugar." Merisant, the maker of the artificial sweetener Equal, sued Splenda for $200,000,000 over their slogan "made from sugar so it tastes like sugar." Just as the jury was ready to announce a verdict favorable to Merisant, the parties reached a settlement. The amount of the payoff is secret. For my penny they all taste like something you wouldn't want in your mouth.

• Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son to the war, has worked tirelessly to ensure that Bush suffers as much grief as she has. Before the Mother's Day rally in front of the White House, Sheehan let it be known that she's considering a run for a Congressional seat. If she runs, she hasn't yet decided whether she'll consider her home district to be in Crawford, Texas, or California.

• So far the only major instance of voter fraud really to get public attention is the case of Ann Coulter, right-wing self-promoter and lunatic. But in April the Palm Beach Sheriff's office ruled that "'there was insufficient probable cause to determine that Ann Coulter willfully or deliberately' violated any laws." A more egregious, deliberate and criminal commission of fraud—and by an attorney, at that—can hardly be imagined. If Ann Coulter isn't prosecuted I don't know why anybody else should even have to worry about it.

Tags: * news roundup