Friday’s Theme Music — No Return
Friday, August 14, 2026. Ashland, southern Oregon.
Another cool day in which the high temperature is expected to crest in the mid 80s F again.
More stories are now coming out about the declining situation on the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln. The ship has been on an extended deployment to support Trump’s war with Iran. The ship has been deployed a record number of days without a port stop.
Trump has not said anything about it. That makes sense; he’s claiming to be rebuilding the military, and has asked for record amounts of more money for that purpose. To find out now that one of the nation’s frontline warships is suffering problems more suited to a *cough* ‘shithole country’ would be another terrible blemish on Trump’s already horrid record.
No, Trump won’t say anything about that. Brace yourself for a new spurt of distractions — texts making insane claims, bold — but faulty — proclamations about how great Trump thinks he is and how wonderful everything is going in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Trump is the overseer of another modern record that will infuriate him:
Gas prices jump again, national average is highest price ever for month of August
Regular unleaded is $4.071 per gallon, up from $3.15 at this time last year while diesel has jumped to $5.40 per gallon nationally.
Yowza. That does not play well against the reality that Trump keeps trying to foist onto We the People.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Trump wants an A+ on the economy, with gas prices establishing a new record for this time of year. To me, that’s a failing grade.
Your bonus Trump quote of the day:
Instead of bringing energy prices down, Trump instead brought the global supply chain down via DOGE’s cuts and his tariffs. Then Trump made everything worse by attacking Iran, who responded by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. That upended the global oil supply chain, which affected almost every other supply chain, driving up costs and prices.
That’s the MAGAts’ Trump: wholly unthinking — except when it comes to himself — irrational, and destructive, taking us all down while he improves his own situation.
What is the point of no return for them?
I have “Point of Know Return” by the prog rock band, Kansas, in the morning mental music stream. This is an energized 1977 song that often has people singing along with the refrain, “How long?” Easy to see how this emerged in my morning mental music stream, given My Neurons’ tendencies. Kind of interesting, but the song is actually about a sailor going off to sea. I think.
May peace and grace bless this and every day for you.
Cheers
Claims, Facts, and Evidence
More confrontations occurring between US citizens and DHS are in the new again.
ICE agent points gun at Virginia woman who shouted at them in video that conflicts with government’s narrative
The Trump administration repeatedly claims that ICE agents were threatened or attacked — often saying that people ‘weaponized’ their vehicles or that agents feared for their lives. Yet in case after case, video, witnesses, and subsequent legal proceedings have contradicted or undermined those accounts.
So it was with some doubt that I read this DHS claim:
“Our officers are experiencing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them, a 3,300% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats. When faced with dangerous circumstances, DHS law enforcement used their training to protect themselves, their fellow officers, and the public,” the DHS spokesperson said in the statement.
There’s not much context to assess their claim, such as a timeline. Additionally, ICE underwent a huge expansion since Trump came back into office. I want to know, what are the raw numbers, such as the number of assaults based on the number of agents? That would be a more meaningful number.
Secondly, I ponder, how is DHS categorizing and cataloguing ‘threats’. Do they change definitions to make the numbers seem worse, giving them cover to respond more aggressively because ‘their agents are being threatened’? That seems to be the conclusion of an older DHS Inspector General finding.
Third, for me, while ICE aggressively expanded, ICE slashed their training regime. Based on historic trends among military, law enforcement, and other professions, less training often ends up resulting in lower standards and more incidents.
Finally, I think that Trump’s more aggressive deployments to cities and
In short, has the danger to the typical ICE officer actually increased by anything remotely approaching the enormous percentages being cited?
Or is this like the Trump and his administration’s broader pattern of making outlandish claims:
- DOGE’s claims of ‘savings’ from Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
- Trump’s math about prescription drug prices
- Trump’s insistence about how many people came for his inauguration
- The claim Trump made that prices would come down fast, and quickly, made many times
- Donald Trump’s many statements about winning the war in Iran, ‘obliterating’ Iran’s military, and the war being over
- The ongoing Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool fiasco
- How ‘great’ the economy is doing when so many are enduring an affordability problem
- Trump’s insistence, without evidence, that the 2020 election was ‘stolen’ from him
- The WH ballroom, which Trump said would cost taxpayers nothing, which is now a growing tab for taxpayers
Given Trump’s history of unsupported and misleading quantitative claims, I want to see the underlying data and methodology before accepting the interpretation DHS is placing on those numbers.
Thursday’s Theme Music — Simple Minds
Ashland, southern Oregon. Thursday, August 13, 2026.
Another cool one for us, 71 F and 86 later. Blue sky, sunshine, clear air. You have no complaints from me about it.
Still worried, though; red flag warnings have been issued for much of Oregon for later today. Lightning, which too easily translates to more wildfires.
Although I live in Oregon, north of California, I checked out this news article on SF Gate this morning:
Here’s what the ‘extraordinary’ new El Niño forecast means for California
It’s supposed to be a super El Nino. The conditions creating the super El Nino is why we’re not having as many hurricanes in the Atlantic this year.
But the article begins, “All eyes are on the unusual power of this year’s El Niño.“
I laughed when I read that. I don’t think Trump’s eyes are on the impending El Nino at all. Led by Trump, his administration has focused on policy actions that roll back climate science initiatives and downscale the federal agencies responsible for tracking things like El Nino. Erika Spanger, director of strategic climate analytics at UCS, summarized it well:
“This is the year when the triple crises of climate change, a reckless authoritarian government, and economic insecurity will start to collide.”
That’s Trump: reckless. His path of destruction screams about the reckless nature of his decisions. Trump doesn’t learn; he hears some bullshit that his supporters like hearing and adopts it as policy. Traditional conservatives and members of the GOP supports him because he’s not a Democrat.
Meanwhile, look at how poorly the job market is doing. How much cases of measles are rising. The slog unofficially known at the Trump Iran War — TIW.
Look at his lies about one thing after another.
It turns my stomach.
We’re watching El Nino here, of course. We’ve been enduring wildfire damage. That sets us up for erosion, flooding, and landslides. That’s compounded by the drought conditions we’ve had for several years. With drought, the earth can absorb less water. Hence, more flooding. Additionally, we’re expecting warmer than usual weather; we aren’t expecting the snow we need for next year.
Based on his history, I expect Trump and MAGAts to shrug and say, “It’s weather.” Talk about simple minds.
Today’s music is “Sanctify Yourself” by Simple Minds. A dream deposited it in my morning mental music stream. At one point in the dream, my wife and I, along with my sister-in-law, went into what seemed a hotel suite — or our house. Not really clear on that point. I heard the song play in the dream and briefly wondered, hey, is Simple Minds here? But in classic dream fashion, I then pivoted to other matters.
A dream deposited it in my morning mental music stream. At one point in the dream, my wife and I, along with my sister-in-law, went into what seemed a hotel suite — or our house. Not really clear on that point. I heard the song play in the dream and briefly wondered, hey, is George Thorogood here? But in classic dream fashion, I then pivoted to other matters.
This is a 1986 song that I’ve always enjoyed myself. I found a Night of the Proms performance of this song. I frequently enjoy the way the Proms series present these songs. Hope you enjoy it as well.
Sample Lyrics
Is this the age of the thunder and rage
Can you feel the ground move ’round your feet?
If you take one step closer, it’ll lead to another
The crossroad above is where we meet
I shout out for shelter, I need you for something
The whole world’s out, they’re all on the street
Control yourself, love is all you need
Control yourself in your eyes
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify)
Be a part of me, sanctify (sanctify)
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify)
Sanctify yourself, set yourself free
May your August day be one that’s sweetness and light, with peace and grace, in the face of the mess that keeps building.
Cheers
Rewritten
Thanks to Linda G. Hill for the prompt!
Wednesday’s Theme Music — Fools
Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
Cooler day today. 86 F is projected as the high while it’s 71 F outside my house right now. Wind is pretty calm and the sky is pretty blue. Pretty sunny today, too. And clear, although Oregon has many fires still burning east, north, and west of us, and California to our south, has some major fires.
Papi and I went outside a short while ago. Vee — my name for Papi’s frequent visitor — was out there. I petted her, gave her treats, and ensured she had water. Papi tolerates her. Vee is a young shorthaired gray tabby with white legs, chest, belly, and paws. Very sweet, friendly, and social, with a silent meow. I think she lives locally, and her people put her out when they go to work, as she arrives at specific times again and again.
A breeze kicked up while we were out there. Honestly felt and sounded like autumn.
The Year of Trump Follies continue. Trump apologists are digging in hard to avoid facing the truth.
Republicans will blame everybody but Trump for his actions | Opinion
“Everybody but Trump” is the GOP chorus when things go downhill, as so much of it is. “It’s all me,” Trump declares when it’s going well, especially when he had absolutely nothing to do with it.
It’s like, they’re resist facts and learning. Trump’s latest Executive Order about vaccines is another facet of their foolishness and ignorance. They’re changing something which has worked for decades to bow to misinformation about autism and vaccines. But hey, that misinformation is popular with the MAGA crowd.
This is double weird given what happened with military recruits and mandatory vaccines in June, just two months ago. The mandatory flu vaccine was dropped; it was now voluntary. Lo, a flu outbreak immediately rose, affecting training and readiness. The mandatory flu vaccine was reinstated forthwith.
Triply weird, when MMR vaccinations are down and measles outbreaks are increasing. Not Trump’s fault, the fools shout. No, it’s not Trump, it’s open Borders! It’s Fauci!
Shows in approval ratings. Trump’s disapproval has moved into historic levels. But Trump remains ‘approved’ by Republicans.
With all the things Trump — and his GOP — have done, he’s now out there trying to scare up more fools to support him. That’s why I have “Find Another Fool” in my morning mental music stream. This was a top twenty hit for Quarterflash in 1981.
Sample Lyrics
You pulled this once… you pulled it twice
It’s time you listened to my advice… oh, baby
I’d never take advantage of our love
I can’t imagine what you’re thinkin’ of
You’re over due… you think this storm is through.
Well, baby, I’ve got news for you
When the season of Trump finally ends, it’ll be like recovering from a major storm. So much will need to be fixed, rebuilt, and changed. I’m looking toward the MAGAts to be part of it. They seem beyond being reached at this point. Maybe, someday, that will change.
Not holding my breath.
I hope this day finds you in good health, good times, and good company.
Cheers
Trump’s Critics
Jill Dennison — always a terrific source for news, opinion, music, and humor — provides more insights into why Trump can’t be trusted. “Where There’s Smoke” provides quotes from ten people who previously worked for Trump. People who endorsed him. Lawyers, generals, CEOs, politicians, governors, cabinet members. Pieces like this remind me that my distrust of Trump is seated in truth, revealed again and again. In this effort, she’s enabled by Keith, who is always good for intelligent and insightful discourse.
Read it, and as Jill says, take heed. I will but I know, MAGAts and many in the GOP will not. They’ll remain in FAFO mode, supporting Trump until their part of the world burns down or implodes.
Then they will probably cry about how Trump tricked them, absolving themselves of any responsibility.
Michael Seidel, writer 