Day: July 17, 2026

Friday’s Theme Music — God

Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, July 17, 2026.

Hot today, but not overly so, with 90 F as the top end. It’s wildfire smoke knocking us down today. Smoke limits the view out the front; we can barely see the valley past the trees across the street, a sight I normally contemplate as I make breafast.

The East Evans Creek has been going on and growing for several days. Started when a car hit a power line, people have been evacuated from several of the surrounding areas.

‘Back east’ as the expression goes, in Pittsburgh, PA, my sisters are complaining about the Canadian wildfire smoke saturating their region. Can’t breathe, they note; gives you an instant headache. One brother-in-law stayed out there yesterday and lost his voice. Surprised that he was out there, as he was stented several years ago and then went through open-heart surgery. On the other hand, he is a MAGAt.

Get ready for more Trump-inspired price increases! Ha, ha, just kidding!

Trump is imposing more tariffs on Brazil.

Coffee is already trading at historically high prices. Last time Trump put a tariff on products from Brazil in 2025, the fallout from high coffee prices politically hurt him. So he exempted food, coffee, and oil this time. It’s only things used in construction, like steel and wood. So housing costs will go up. No problem, right?

Home Listing Prices Post Sharpest Drop in 9 Years as Sellers Face Reality Check

Today’s song in the morning mental music stream is “American Jesus”. Came out over a few handfuls of years ago. By Bad Religion, it’s an anti-war song inspired when President George Dubya Bush said during the Gulf War, “‘We’ll win, because God is on our side!”

As many historians have said since, we may have won that war, but we lost the peace.

Fortunately, we have Trump, a genius among geniuses, in the Oval House and he’s learn all the lessons from that war because he’s the smartest man in the universe’s entire existence. Sorry, I gagged and puked writing that bit of snark.

May your day go well, your health be strong, and your food be tasty.

Cheers

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Missing Connections

Facts and reality continue their freefall in Trumpland.

Much of the US is caught in extreme heat as a heat dome covers the nation.

Air quality sucks in many states due to wildfires smoke.

Measles outbreaks continue to rise in the US. South Carolina, Texas, and Utah have the most outbreaks and the highest caseloads.

The rural hospital crises roars along, with more hospitals slated to close in rural areas.

Energy prices are increasing, along with food prices. Affordability is cratering. Grocery prices are 33% higher than in 2019.

Water shortages are rising because of widespread drought in the continental US, with 48% of the lower 48 states enduring some levels of drought. Besides affecting people’s abilities to hydrate, reduced water levels threaten livestock, agriculture, and hydroelectric power. As those areas are affected, expect food and grocery prices to increase more.

Personal bankruptcies are still increasing, continuing a trend which started several years ago.

The US debt is at a record high.

It’s flooding in Texas. Bridges have collapsed. Roads are impassible.

A cyclospora outbreak has hit 34 states.

ICE violence continues.

Over in the Department of Defense, another endless war is going on, this time with Iran. The Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, worries about testosterone levels in the military members. Denies promotions to women and people of color.

Trump uses a Disney cartoon character to text about how good he’s doing. Goes on television to promote hysteria about election fraud and election interference, offering no evidence for his claims, and ignoring the mountains of proof about how safe US elections are.

After paving over the historic Rose Garden, Trump is paving more of the White House grounds, ignoring again that it’s not his place, but belongs to We the People.

Treasury announced a gold coin with Trump on it will be coming out.

Good. We need a gold commemorative reminder of how horrible life is becoming under Trump.

Trump and his administration do little to address the real problems facing real people. All he does is go on about how wonderful he is, whining how people cheat and persecute him.

They’re still trying to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and still building the Epstein ballroom.

On to the next distraction.

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