Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Trump’s BS isn’t going over well in the socialsphere. The right-wing bubble might be lapping it up but here in the real world, mocking Trump is growing as a pastime.
Some straightforward truth…
A little history…
In closing…
And something from Trump’s alternate reality…
Hurt myself today. Yep, totally self-inflicted, and I was totes sober and drug free. Goes like this.
I was walking fast into the bathroom to get into the business of shaving, teeth brushing, and showering. A million things were heading through my mind. I’d just come from the living room, where Papi, by sole floof, was sweetly sleeping on a chair. But as I walked into the primary bath, I heard a loud, sharp meow behind me.
I knew it wasn’t Papi. Not his meow.
Whirling around, I simultaneously turned my head to go the other way and plowed straight into the door jamb. I fortunately hit with my forehead. Being hard-headed can sometimes help, and this is one of those times. Had my head been up, I could have easily broken my nose or given myself a split lip or black eye.
Staggering back after bouncing off the frame, I held my head and said, “Jesus, Michael. What is wrong with you?” Remembering the meow, I looked up.
A small gray and white feline visitor was staring at me through my patio door. I’d never seen the critter before. As I said, “Hello, who are you,” it whipped around and dashed away.
I peered outside for any more sign of it. Seeing none, I checked my damages in the mirror. One thing really still bothered me.
What caused that cat to meow like that?
Breathe deep, I remind myself. So much shitty news roils my complacent sailing. I seethe against Trump and the GOP. My specific seething target is that waste of space, Mike Johnson (R) – Hell. When questioned and pressed for an opinion about Trump suggesting that United States cities should be used as a training ground for the military, Johson squirms like a worm putting put on a hook. The Daily Beast reports via MSN.
“I don’t serve in the Pentagon. I run the House of Representatives, and what we need to be talking about today is real harm that the American people are going to feel because of what Chuck Schumer is doing,” Johnson replied, referencing the government shutdown that Republicans are trying to pin on Democrats.
Yes, squirm, worm, squirm!
Shutdown Blues are sweeping the country. Trump seems pretty unconcerned from what we’ve seen and heard of him. Hell, he’s still getting rich, stealing from the government and scamming folks from the Offal Office. More than that, in his altered reality, he’s probably being cheered and feted with confefve from adoring crowds. Yet, coupled with the government shutdown and the impact that’ll splash over into the economy and the United States’ credit and bond ratings, people should be bracing themselves for rising prices, falling services, failing and businesses, and well, greater yet enshittification. This is the kind of event that’ll sweep over all facets of society. Trump seems oblivious, but that just released ADP jobs report is ugly. UPI feeds us the deets.
Oct. 1 (UPI) — Private companies’ payrolls dropped by a seasonally adjusted 32,000 jobs in September, according to an ADP report released Wednesday.
The figure represented the largest decline since March 2023. ADP also revised its August numbers — from an increase of 54,000 jobs to a drop of 3,000.
Well, tourism is down. Prices are rising as tariffs kick in and stock built up before Trump’s tariffs were announced dwindle. Beyond that, Trump’s erratic rollout, as consistent as a tide on a stormy beach, confuses business leaders and encourages distrust. Disrupted supply chains and doubtful, worried consumers encourages suspicions about what will happen next. Trust, once broken, isn’t easily regained.
UPI‘s story goes on to note,
The ADP report showed a 28,000 overall drop in service-related jobs, including leisure/hospitality (19,000), professional/business services (13,000), financial activities (9,000), trade/transportation/utilities (7,000) and other services (16,000). There was a rise in education and health services jobs — by 33,000 — and in information jobs — by 3,000.
Meanwhile, MarketWatch reports on deeper, ongoing problems.
The health of the labor market is the single biggest worry of the Fed — even more than a recent rise in inflation. The central bank trimmed a key U.S. interest rate in September in what appears to be the beginning of a rate-cutting cycle to shore up the economy.
Most top Fed officials continue to call the labor market stable. Yet they are increasingly alert to the possibility of “more meaningful and unwelcome increase in the unemployment rate” that could damage the economy, as Boston Fed President Susan M. Collins said Tuesday.
But is the labor market really stable? On the surface, it appears so.
The economy is still adding jobs, if at a glacial pace, and the unemployment rate is quite low historically at 4.3%.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits each week is also surprisingly low, a sign that businesses are mostly avoiding layoffs. Instead, they simply aren’t filling open positions after former employees leave — what economists call “attrition.”
Dig a little deeper, though, and the vital signs for the labor market don’t look nearly so good.
Start with a decline in hiring — the number of new hires per 100 workers. The hiring rate among private-sector businesses fell again in August to 3.5%, matching a five-year low.
The slowdown in hiring is glaring in the most recent U.S. employment reports. The economy added an average of just 25,000 new jobs a month from May through August, marking the weakest four-month stretch since 2010, ignoring the COVID-19-era period.
Not only that, but employment actually fell in June for the first time since 2020.
“Low hiring remains the main driver of weaker labor market,” economists at Citi Research said.
Trump has a proven history of trying to hide from facts and pretend that all is not just great, but the greatest ever. It’s not a deep surprise that the BLS Jobs Report will be delayed. Many, including moi, think Trump’s minions will outright game the numbers to tell a wholly different story. While that might appease his MAGA base and buy time with lockstep Republicans, business people, critical thinkers, and, well, citizens residing in the real world will react with greater distrust and suspicion.
Seasonally, we should be seeing a jump in sales and employment in the United States. It’s the economic fourth quarter. Black Friday is coming, along with the big holiday season that so many love and loathe. The portents are mixed about what will happen. As Paul Krugman likes to remind us, hard data is catching up with soft data.
Time will tell for us but despite his appearances, Trump knows the clock is running. Tick, tock, TACO, tick, tock.
Cool air and rainy vistas wraps Ashlandia’s autumn persona. 68 F is our expected high, 12 above our current setting.
Wenzda. October 1, 2025. September is gone, finishing off nine months of 2025. The final three months promise quite a ride.
Trump is trying to move the needle to full dictatorship. With the GOP mostly going along with him, the Roberts Court dished him one small setback in its Lisa Cook Fed board ruling. I think his military show threw him a deeper setback. Trump’s chosen Foxer to rule the nation’s military arm, Hedwig the angry inch, had summoned the U.S. military’s top leadership to D.C. Trump, apparently hearing about it, decided to insert himself into it. Between those two, the stoic military seemed less than impressed with the clown show encountered. This Fox broadcaster and a desperately vain, overweight billionaire were going to show them, professionals of twenty+ years, how to be strong and how to military. I’m sure a strong vein of who do they think they are went through gathered military. Nothing else, military leaders tend to be proud, intelligent, and lean toward arrogance. They’ve worked hard. Sacrificed. Committed to principles. They taught and practiced loyalty, and they’re versed in history. They are not fools nor easily cowed. And Trump and Hegseth treated them like fools, trying to cow them, dismissing all that they are. I think Trump’s Regime made a huge mistake staging this situation. The military knew what it looked like and what Trump was trying to do. And they probably did not like it. No, they will not speak out. But they were in front row seats for the unfiltered TACO show. They probably walked away thinking, he’s our commander-in-chief but our duties lie with the Constitution.
Unfortunately, Trump can fire a lot of them. Just decide, be gone. Might not be legal but that’s the Trump nation. Legality’s hold is weak and diminishing. So Trump fires them. Puts in replacements. I don’t know how that would all sit with troops. We saw with Germany, Vietnam, and other conflicts that the military often falls back on, “I’m just following orders.” So, we need to hope that they’re strong enough, intelligent enough, to resist those orders when they’re unlawful, and do the right thing.
Wow, what a place for our nation to reach.
They might also remember, hey, Trump’s best friend, Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted of some pretty unsavory crimes. They might wonder, what exactly is in that Epstein file? They may recall photos like this:
And they might think, POTUS or not, I really don’t like this guy.
Today’s song came from looking for Papi, my orange boi. I was like, “Where is that cat?” Then kind of thought, I wonder if he’s out front. And just like that, The Neurons had me singing “I wonder, wah wah wonder,” from “Runaway”. Then Bonnie Raitt’s cover took over the morning mental music stream and here we are.
Meanwhile, Papi wandered in from another room, yawning and stretching, back arched, stretching his front legs, then dragging his back legs in another stretch. After a few tottering steps, he sat and furiously washed several areas, then looked up at me in mid-wash. “Hungry yet?” I asked. He trotted forward.
Looking for peace and grace to find you? Me, too. I made some coffee, trying to lure them in. Fingers crossed that it works. Here we go, one more time into the breach. I mean, day. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 