Tuesday’s Theme Music — You Oughta Know
Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
Another hot day, but this one is cloudy. 83 F now, we’re destined for life in the 90s. The wind has changed, protecting us from the East Evans Creek Fire. The firefighters to whom we owe so much every year have it 18% contained. The fire has consumed over 16,000 acres, and mopping up is underway.
My younger sister, Gina, has been shepherding the project to move Mom’s things out of her home and sell the house. Part of the project is the collection and review of personal papers. I wrote Mom many letters from my assignments around the world. She kept them all, along with letters from her siblings and mother. My sisters are busy recalling the different eras of Mom’s life: the men she was with, where she lived, what was happening to them. A very chaotic period, it finally settled when Mom got her GED, went on to become a nurse, and bought her house. But for Mom and my sisters, its seems like an anguished period before that.
My two youngest sisters. Gina is on the left. The photo was taken in 2019.
Trump double standards — TDS — are in the news today. Trump has unleashed new retaliatory tariffs on Canada. Trump cites how Canada discriminates against the United States by importing fewer American cars and not selling American whiskey. Trump fails mentioning his history in this: that he began that trade war with Canada, that their ‘discrimination’ emerged because he attacked Canada with tariffs and suggested Canada should be the 51st US state.
Meanwhile, Trump is blasting Iran over human rights violations while he actively undermines human rights in the US. Ignoring due process and legal status — and even court’s decisions to not do things — Trump uses ICE to intimidate people, especially citizens of blue cities, run by Democrats, to coerce them to cooperate with them.
Classic Trump: do as I say, not as I do.
If you’ve been paying any attention, you ought to know this by now. You ought to know that Trump is only out for himself. You ought to know that Trump is vain and self-centered, and tone deaf. It’s all about him and how he can destroy our heritage to improve how he’s perceived.
That’s why Trump has done petty things with his predecessors portraits.
It’s why Trump paved over the historic Rose Garden and tore down the East Wing.
He had to change it all to make it about him.
That’s why he’s trying to rewrite history, enlarging his part while dismissing what women and people of color did. That’s why he’s trying to elevate himself to the same position as the founders.
That’s why he wants a place on Mount Rushmore.
That’s why Trump wants the Nobel Peace Prize.
That is so, so, laughable. Trump has nowhere near intellect of the founders. He lacks backbone, principles, and moral courage. His current active role in trying to curtail freedom, democracy, and voting rights would infuriate the founders. It’s scandalous how he’s enriching himself through the Oval Office, something that the founders actively warned the nation about happening.
President Lincoln famously warned that the United States is more likely to be destroyed from within. Ironic that the one doing so — Trump — likes to compare himself to Lincoln.
You ought to know, Donald Trump: you are not popular.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Another example of his double standards come via the Epstein file, Algaegate — the Trump Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool cockup — and the Jan 6 insurrections.
Trump and his administration keep hiding the Epstein file, ignoring the victims.
For Algaegate, he had a person arrested and charged with vandalism. In classic Trumpyism, his DoJ has screwed the case up.
For Jan 6, after his supporters were responsible for the death and injury of law enforcement officers and the destruction of Congressional offices, Trump pardoned him.
There is the clear line of Trump Double Standards.
Today’s song in the morning mental music stream is “You Oughta Know”. Alanis Morrisette. 1995. A scathing rebuke of a former lover. Listen to that crowd singing with her:
Lyrics:
And I’m here to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It’s not fair, to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know
Yep, when Trump goes away, he’ll leave a huge mess.
You also should know that this song came out in the peak years of Trump socializing with Jeffrey Epstein.
Hope your day is safe, prosperity, and builds bridges for a better life for you and your family.
Cheers
The Water Bottle Dream
Once again, I found myself younger and off at some gathering. Not huge, about one hundred people, I guess. It was some kind of bonding/teamwork thing. Don’t know who was hosting it.
I was part of management. I knew everyone there, at least casually, and some were direct co-workers or friends. Nobody was part of my real-life world.
We’d just finished eating and socializing. Clean up was underway. The undertaking was moving to a new location. Teams were going to be set up and tasks assigned.
As I was familiar with what was happening, I urge everyone to go on while I cleaned up and supervised that aspect. Finishing up, I found a bottle of plastic water. Drinking from it, I headed down to join the rest.
Everyone was scattered in a sort of ornate, fancy hotel lobby. I wandered through, eyeing the groups, listening to the chatter, drinking water from the bottle.
A woman at a podium accosted me from a podium that was up on a platform. She was young and dressed formally in a skirt but with a buttoned up blouse and jacket. I took her to be a concierge or some sort of hostess. Not knowing what she was saying, I went closer to her.
She said, “Wouldn’t you be better off drinking that water somewhere else?”
I didn’t respond. I realized that she thought that I didn’t belong there.
Feeling feisty and amused, I asked, “What did you say?”
Smirking, she leaned forward and looked down at me. First she repeated what she said before. Then she elaborated, “Maybe you have a home you can go to to drink your water.”
Grinning, I drank water and replied, “I like it here. Why shouldn’t I drink it here.”
Lowering her volume, she explained, “You don’t seem to appear like you belong here.”
“Really? Where do I belong?”
Our conversation had captured my friends and co-workers’ attention. Some came over and asked, “Michael, what’s going on here?”
I smiled, almost laughing, as I saw the concierge realize that I was part of that group.
Dream end.
Monday’s Theme Music – Fears & Monsters
Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, July 20, 2026.
Smoke lingered until about midnight. That kept the area heat sealed in. Overnight slowly dropped into the low seventies after a daytime high of 96 F at our house.
Less smoke here today. Tiny, scattered showers. Now 80, 91 is the expected high.
Our smoke is from several fires. Dominating the skies is the East Evans Creek Fire. From the reports we’re getting, this fire will continue for several more weeks.
My younger sister, Gina, continues preparing Mom’s home for a change of ownership. She began by trying to sell a few things. Then items were given to charity, thrift stores, or the scrap man. One young woman, though, came early and bought several things. Gina kept in touch with her, giving her more items as time went by. Gina reported that she gave the woman a vacuum cleaner yesterday.
The woman said, “You don’t know how it’s helped me with all that you’ve given me.”
Gina replied, “I hope you remember and can help someone in the future.”
“I will,” the woman replied.
More US troops have been killed in Trump’s war with Iran. Trump claimed the US won the war before — 32 times. He also claimed it was over as far back as March of 2026, less than a month after he started it. Here we are, though, 142 days later, still at war with Iran, and it seems to be escalating.
The war is part of Operation Epic BE VERY AFRAID, itself part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! On the one hand, Trump does things and then tries distracting us. Then, as that fails to distract us because we become inured to his lies, he pivots and tries to make us afraid. Then Trump claims only he can fix it.
For example, back when he was running for office in 2024, Trump was all about affordability.
Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:
Anyone can do the research and see how Trump operates. In this instance — affordability — he blasted Democrats about affordability when running for office in 2024.
About 14, 15 months later, Trump declares affordability will be much better under him and Republicans.
But, as prices don’t go down, and even increase, Trump declares affordability is a hoax. Created by the ‘opposition’, of course.
Yet, he was the one running so hard on it back in 2024.
He’s essentially declaring that he ran on a hoax.
Sure, but his hoax was enough to dupe a sufficient number of people to vote for him.
Now, though — July, 2026 — fewer people are no longer buying Trump’s excuses.
Half of Americans struggle to afford groceries and gas, exclusive poll finds
Republicans Increasingly Say Finances Worse Under Trump
With plunging popularity and approval, Trump has accelerated fear tactics. Communists. Stolen elections. Iran with nukes.
And Trump’s war with Iran takes the biggest stage, the most political oxygen.
Expect more fearful hysteria coming from the White House in the days to come.
Today’s music is by David Bowie. The Neurons caught me shaking my head over Trump’s manipulating language and unfounded declarations. In response, they fired up “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).
The song came out in 1980. The chorus fits Trump and his ‘be-very-afraid’ style, but I’m more drawn to Robert Fripp’s guitar work on it.
Chorus:
[Chorus]
Scary monsters
Super creeps
Keep me running
Running scared
Scary monsters
Super creeps
Keep me running
Running scared
h/t to Genius.com
I hope the creeps, monsters and fears leave you and your friends and family alone, giving you time for happiness, love, and to gorw.
Cheers
The State of Trumpland
First, a fine summary about the state of things:
States of things.
I read an article in “The Independent” about World Cup fans’ American experience. This, though, contains a critical observation to me. I added some emphasis.
“Many landed expecting the politically fractured country frequently highlighted in global headlines. Instead, they found Uber drivers brimming with recommendations and locals willing to open their homes to strangers. Even as game attendees grappled with the sticker shock of ticket prices, some Americans they met didn’t even know the World Cup was happening, or simply didn’t care.“
Honestly, I knew the World Cup was going on. I see news stories about the games and tournaments. But I am one who doesn’t care about it. Yet, I’m not surprised that some Americans were unaware of the World Cup going on; some of them emerged to vote, unsure about what’s going, back in 2024.
Then there was this from the same article:
“That felt like a proper American experience in Dallas,” Reader said. “He had, I would call it like a proper American setup, like a TV outside, a beer fridge, massive fly zappers, and then massive fans as well.”
Damn, I haven’t been exposed to that proper American setup yet.
Meanwhile, on Fox News, they’re puzzled: how can Iran be fighting back against the United States?
“I don’t understand how it’s possible that Iran has the capabilities to fight this way and continue to try to lash out at Gulf countries and U.S. military bases because the U.S. has obliterated Iran’s military, and the president continues to reiterate that,” Bartiromo said Sunday on Fox News.
Gosh, yes, it IS a mystery. How, how, how? Can it be that Trump, the person who told us prices would go down 100s to 1000s percent, Trump who claimed Mexico would pay for the wall, Trump, who was documented lying and is widely perceived as dishonest, is LYING?
The inanity of this Blue Sky post rocked me:
WTF? DEI Bike Lanes? SMFH.
Seriously, these are the idiots Trump selected to run his administration.
Enough said department:
The CIA Dream
I was working in marketing again, as I had for several years in real life. I was about the same age as well, early 40s, after retiring from the military.
Just returning from a long trade show, I went to my office and opened my cabinets to put things away. There I found that someone had been delivering food to me! Much of it were three by three inch cubes with Kanji on them. The wrappers were white, with either a red, green, or blue.
They totally mystified me. I questioned others, where did the food come from? Who brought them? No one could say.
I figured out through examination that the colors on the cubes represented fish, beef, or dairy. That amused me but needing my space, I began clearing them out.
Next I found bags of candy. Like WTF? Then cans of soup and containers of melted ice cream.
I couldn’t believe it. Why would someone put that in my cabinet?
A female co-worker came by and explained that the same thing had happened to her. It was part of some lunch program. We didn’t go in to get our food, so they delivered them to us. We weren’t there, so they put them away for us.
“But ice cream?” I protested. “That doesn’t make sense. Also, how much food do they think I need? There must be weeks worth.”
I was amused more than I was angry.
While I was cleaning, basically trying to do with this food, I kept getting summoned to meetings or interrupted by people coming by.
Two of the people who came by were CIA agents. Or so they said.
Male, dressed in suits, with ties. They wanted a favor.
Something was being installed. It was down on the ground floor, outside. They gave me a red and white placard. A white 5 was in the middle.
“Just put this on the cover of what they make. That’s all you need to do.”
Sure. Why not? Made no sense but did I care? Not really. I was too busy with other things to wonder about this strange venture.
Resuming my cleaning, I was almost done when two more men – white, in suits – stopped by. They identified themselves as part of the CIA. These two wore sunglasses.
I wondered, is this a joke?
One explained, “There is new construction being completed downstairs.”
The other held up a white thing. Basically resembled a white tent peg. “We want you to put this about a foot behind the construction, about a foot to the right. That’s all you need to do. We’ll do the rest.”
I repeated all that because it made no sense.
Then I asked, why are you asking me to do this?
“We’ve seen your records,” the first said, as if that explained everything.
I figured he meant my military records, and all those security clearances, and just accepted it.
Later, I did what the two pairs of agents asked. Privately, kind of secretly, ensuring no one was around to witness it.
Then I laughed as I walked away.
Dream end.
Sunday’s Theme Music – Way it is
Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, July 19, 2026.
We’re into the endurance stage of summer. Today will hit 97 degrees F. A maybe is attached, for it depends on the smoke’s thickness and sprawl.
80 right now, thin white clouds and strips of gray smoke force the sky into a hazy shade of blue.
That’s just how it is in the summer here.
This headline caught my attention this week:
Gas is nearly $4 again and diesel just topped $5. It’s not what you think
The story reminds us that Trump’s Iran war is affecting oil and gas prices. But they also note that much of the gas products refined in Trump’s America are going to other places.
US refineries processed their largest amount of crude in the second quarter since 2019.
But a record amount of American-produced fuel is heading overseas – in the form of jet fuel (for Europe) and diesel (for Asia and Australia) to help the world bridge the gap in fuel supplies.
That has sent US gasoline inventories to their lowest levels since 2012.
The CNN article then goes on to mention that US refineries are struggling to produce products due to extreme heat.
Meanwhile, Trump, whose administration has rolled air and water pollutions standards back, is complaining about Canada ‘invading the US’ with filthy air. Classic Trump Double Standards.
Trump denies climate change, deriding it as a hoax, as he does many things which he can’t comprehend or doesn’t want to address.
“This ‘climate change,’ it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” Trump said. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong. They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success. If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail.”
Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:
Trump has chosen to treat our friends in Canada with more tariffs. That’s just the way he is. Instead of working with others to solve problems, he attacks, mocks, and derides.
Trump is so tone deaf. He claims that America “are a people like no other” and then goes to war with Americans, for example, referring to Democrats as “Dumbocrats”, significantly restricting, cutting, and altering healthcare benefits, and nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, with a heavy emphasis on transgender Americans.
This is how Trump ‘honors’ the people like no other.
That’s just the way he is.
No surprise for me, The Neurons have “The Way It Is” in the morning mental music stream. Bruce Hornsby wrote the song and he and his band, the Range, performed it. America’s civil rights movement of the 1960s inspired him when he wrote it.
Lyrics
They say, “Hey, little boy, you can’t go where the others go
‘Cause you don’t look like they do”
Said, “Hey, old man, how can you stand to think that way?
Did you really think about it before you made the rules?”
He said, “Son
That’s just the way it is
Some things will never change
That’s just the way it is”
Ha, but don’t you believe them
Mmm, yeah
That’s just the way it is
That’s just the way it is
Well, they passed a law in ’64
To give those who ain’t got a little more
But it only goes so far
‘Cause the law don’t change another’s mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar, ooh, no
h/t to AZLyrics.com
Bruce Hornsby is a liberal, something that came from his mother, according to him in this 2020 interview in “The Independent”:
“Narrow-minded attitudes prevailed in my small southern town,” he tells me. “But my mum, Lois, was from a more forward-thinking family of New Englanders who’d moved down to Richmond when her dad got a job there as a church organist. Liberal Lois, my mum, married a big old handsome country boy. Bob Hornsby was from a fishing village and he was cut from the local cloth. My parents’ votes cancelled each other out in elections from 1948 to 1976 when my mum persuaded my dad to vote for Jimmy Carter and he never looked back and he voted Democrat for the rest of his life.”
As Bruce’s mother, Liberal Lois, proves, it doesn’t have to be the way it is, if people are willing to keep trying to open narrow minds and change their values.
Not Trump, of course. From Epstein to corruption and dishonesty, that’s just the way he is.
I hope comes complete with safe times, good times, and happy memories.
Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 