Thursday’s Theme Music — Distractions
Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, July 30, 2026.
Clouds and sunshine is mixing it up in our valley. 75 F at this point, the high is expected to top off in the upper 80s today.
The air remains clear of wildfire smoke, as well, knock on wood. A little rain would be welcomed.
Trump continues to slog through a summer of bad news. More light came to be shed about Trump’s reasons for attacking on Iran, I think.
US economy slowed more than expected as the Iran war took hold
The United States economy slowed more than expected as an inflation surge took hold over the early months of the Iran war, a government report on Thursday showed.
The economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.5% over three months ending in June, marking a slight slowdown from 2.1% growth recorded in the previous quarter. The figure came in lower than economists’ expected.
Still, the latest data outperformed 0.5% annualized gross domestic product (GDP) recorded over final three months of 2025.
The period covered by the data release followed a historic global oil shock set off by the Middle East conflict.
Trump’s war with Iran makes more sense to me now. Trump attacked Iran because the economy was weak. He needed a distraction, cover for why inflation was not going down. Besides that, the Epstein files are still out there, waiting to be released. Also, polls were showing that Trump and his policies were becoming more and more unpopular, a trend that’s still going.
Trump’s approval rating plummets near George W. Bush levels – Daily Kos
Of course, Trump ignorantly thought the war with Iran would be a cakewalk. Instead, whoa, half a year has gone by.
Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is another Epic Trump Failure.
On top of these things, Trump has been trying to drum up fears about election being stolen! Election fraud! Oh, no, commies are coming!
States are pushing back.
Florida ‘has not been hacked’: Trump election claim crumbles as states start to speak up
Facts, truth, history: these are anathema to Trump, who much prefers ignorance, lies, wealth, and idolization.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Trump loves tough talking. Especially when he’s sending others in to face danger, and it is others who are being killed.
Today’s theme music emerged from the headlines.
Noah Kahan rips White House, Trump for using hit song in video of prez touring GM plant
I wasn’t familiar with the song. Once I heard it, it struck me as a really weird song choice for visiting a factory. But that aligns with Trump and his Trumpions’ thinking. “American Cars” is the song title, and that’s all they needed.
I was pleased that Noah Kahan pushed back against Trump’s use of the song.
“Kahan wrote Tuesday, according to Variety, “Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration.””
His writing partner, Noah Levine, was more to the point: “You fat f–k, this song isn’t for you.”
Love you, Noah Levine!
Hope your day is wealthy with friendship, good health, and good times.
Cheers
The Wake Up Ping
WARNING: It’s ‘nother first world blues rant.
I don’t usually keep my phone near me when I’m in bed. Had a lifetime in the military, along with my time in marketing. People always wanted me immediately available.
Well, no longer! It’s one of the declarations of independence I made when I retired from all that work stuff. The phone stays in the other room.
Except, yesterday, it didn’t. I wasn’t feeling well. My car was in the shop for routine maintenance. I was waiting for them to call or text to tell me it was ready. So I had the phone on my nightstand.
They called about four-ish, asking if they could keep it overnight. No, nothing major found; they were just short-handed and overscheduled.
Shrugging it off, I agreed, sure. “Call me in the morning when it’s ready.”
I went back to sleep, off and on, and forgot about the phone.
Until six AM this morning.
The phone pinged with a message. In irritation, I thought, sisters. That was more a matter of my mood than anything. My sisters have habits of getting up early and sending texts early. They’re on the east coast of the US, so they’re three hours ahead of me. Texts that they’re sending at 8 AM are pinging on my phone at 5 AM.
But it wasn’t my sisters.
Nor was it the car repair shop.
No, it was Google Health, formerly known as Fitbit.
Google Health pinged me awake at 6 AM to tell me that I didn’t have a good night of sleep.
Sure; that made total freaking sense.
As Mom often grumbles, “Those so and so’s.”
Wednesday’s Theme Music — Parenting
Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, July 29, 2026.
July is trickling toward the end, but summer continues unabated. 68 F now, blue skies, etc., high of 91 F today here in our valley.
Mom’s house was supposed to close tomorrow. But we’re uncertain at this point if it will. We will know later today.
Was strangely lethargic yesterday, bereft of energy. Got up early, took the car in for routine maintenance. Came back and I felt like I was being deflated. Slept a great deal. Feel much better today.
Trump has denied Oregon funds and assistance for fighting its two largest fires. No straightforward reason given — there was some strange language but it’s probably because Oregon votes blue. The irony is that Trump carried the affected areas.
From the article:
The East Evans Creek Fire reached nearly 16,000 acres with more than 230 homes on Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation orders. Despite also threatening roads, bridges and other infrastructure, FEMA denied a firefighting grant application on July 22.
The Row Creek Fire Complex, meanwhile, was at one time the largest fire in the country, sprawling as of Tuesday over nearly 300,000 acres. It’s expected to merge soon with the nearby Brewer Fire. When the application was made, more than 400 people were on Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation orders.
According to the senators’ letter, FEMA denied the applications after a shift in terms — one seemingly small but radical in effect. FEMA’s policy manual states that an FMAG is warranted when a fire “threatens such destruction as would constitute a major disaster,” the senators said, but the agency seemingly determined that fires would only qualify for FMAGs if they might also receive a major disaster declaration, which is a specific designation used for other forms of FEMA assistance.
From what I’ve read of Trump voters, they’re probably (mostly) saying, “That’s okay. He’s doing it to punish the state of Oregon because of their policies. So we’re good with it.” Even if, in punishing the state, these voters are the ones who will take the brunt of the punishment. But they’re staying with him because, he’s Trump, and he tells it like it is and speaks up for them.
Rep. Cliff Bentz (Trump, OR) said nothing about those fires not getting any assistance. Instead, Bentz lavished praise on the Trump administration for providing approval to fight three smaller fires. spe
In Trump Double Standard news, Trump is now doing something that he blasted President Biden about.
Trump criticized Biden for draining America’s oil reserves. They’re now at a 43-year low amidst a Middle East war
Yes, that is classic Trump. Accused President Biden of being out of touch and tired; now that’s exactly how Trump is often perceived. Postured that President Obama played too much golf, while he, Trump, would NEVER golf because he would be too busy — yet, Trump golfs more than any other POTUS. Kept on bashing President Biden about inflation and affordability. Now he says, they don’t matter. Bashed President Biden about being corrupt as he, Trump, makes over $2B from serving We the People in his second term.
Now your Trump Quote of the Day:
This is fascinating. He already has torched the ‘I’m A Great Businessman’ meme. After that, Trump, married three times, convicted of crimes, a serial adulterer, came out about how religious he is. Then he pushed law and order while breaking laws. Alongside that, he preached against shithole countries and people of color. Then he rolled out terrorism, calling ANTIFA — which is not an organization — a terrorist group. Next: the red menace — communism — is back.
But Trump is losing ground. So now he’s saying, think of me as your parent. Look how much more I’ve done for you than your own parents.
That does two things simultaneously. One, it’ll work with some weak minds, just as his other lies found purchase. Some will say, yes, Trump is better for me than my parents ever were!
Second, it’s a terrific new distraction from the rising affordability problem, the Epstein files, the ongoing, growing Iran war, the wretched ‘renovations’ Trump is doing, Trump’s inability to do the job, and his long list of broken promises and outlandish claims.
Most of us see it for what it is. We’ll shake our heads again and then wait, wondering what new distraction and effort will come about from Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!
Today’s song is “Father of Mine” by Everclear. The Neurons loaded the 1998 song into the morning mental music stream after I read and digested Trump’s claim about doing more for me than my parents. I vehemently disagree with that claim.
The song is a bitter tirade about a man feeling abandoned by his father.
Sample Lyrics
Father of mine
Tell me, where have you been?
Yeah, I just closed my eyes
And the world disappeared
Father of mine
Tell me, how do you sleep?
With the children you abandoned
And the wife I saw you beat
I will never be safe
I will never be sane
I will always be weird inside
I will always be lame
Now I’m a grown man
With a child of my own
And I swear, I’m not gonna let her know
All the pain I have known
May you have a strong day — full of joy, good health, friends and family.
Cheers
Tuesday’s Theme Music — Roll with it
Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
We’re still in the 60 (low) to 90 F daily range. Living under blue skies and sunshine, watching our water levels trickle away.
Yesterday found our air good again in the morning. Then smoke trickled in. Looking for the source, I was in hit in the face with this headline:
Size of Oregon wildfires skyrocket to more than 1M acres burned over the weekend
About all I’m writing today. Feeling tired. Returning to bed. Reading.
Hope you have a solid day.
Cheers
A Bulb Tale
More first world blues!
I barked out a laugh.
My wife absently asked, “What’s so funny?”
We were in the home office, each quietly doing computer things. Sitting back, I turned my chair to face her. “You know how that garage door light bulb went out?”
The background: there’s a light that goes on when you press the button to raise or lower the garage door. It was no longer going on.
She nodded, waiting for me to drop the other shoe.
“Well, when you were out the other day, I replaced the bulb. That didn’t fix it, though.”
“Oh,” my wife said.
“Anyway.” I gestured at the computer. “I figure, must be something else. So I’m researching online. One of the things I came across was that I should use a light bulb specifically made for garage door lifts.”
My wife frowned. “What?”
I laughed. “Exactly. We’ve lived here twenty years. I think I replaced the bulb one before. I replaced our Half Moon Bay garage door light one time. I’ve never bought a special bulb for it.”
“Why would the garage door need a special bulb?” my wife asked.
“It’s supposed to be ‘more rugged’.”
She and I both laughed. “I think that’s crap,” she said.
“I agree,” I replied.
We returned attention to our computers.
Monday’s Theme Music — Stuck in the middle
Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, July 27, 2026.
Another day of sunshine, blue skies and 90 F. Free again of fire and smoke. Kind of holding my breath on that. Been a relatively good year for us in terms of smoke and heat. We’re doing much better than previous years.
Can’t say the same for the rest of the world and the US. Once Democrats can take over Congress, I hope they turn their attention back to addressing climate change.
“The New Republic” offered a perspective on Trump’s second term. I’d noticed the same but they do a better job of categorizing it for us.
The Seven Trump News Cycles We’re All Stuck In
- Tariffs
- Iran War
- ICE violence
- Self enrichment
- Voter suppression
- Bad renovations
- Everyone’s getting sicker
I would add Distractions, aka “Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!”. Trump keeps circling to insulting people, claiming the US should own Greenland, he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, “The commies are coming!”, and multiple other irritatingly inane, pathetic proclamations.
Perhaps Affordability should be one, too.
Speaking of which, I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s an interesting idea:
MAGA voters will soon ‘quit watching Fox’ as gas soars and GOP excuses Trump: Republican
From what I’ve read, MAGA voters squirm and dismiss gas prices and the other things that irritate us, claiming that those things are happening because of the Deep State or other bizarre logic.
Grifter Rick Scott (Trump – Floridastan) still has his head firmly up Trump’s rear:
“We’ve got to explain to people that, you know, unfortunately until we get some new leadership in Iran, we’re going to continue to see conflict, which is going to see higher gas prices.”
As the rest of us know, higher gas prices also pad prices and costs on everything else. Also, Scott is flat out saying that Trump is working on regime change in Iran — again, since he already changed Iran’s regime once. As history shows, regime change as a policy is highly ineffective.
Since Republicans still think they’re in the 1800s, it’s not surprising that they haven’t picked up on that truth.
Given that we’re stuck in these horrid loops, My Neurons naturally turned to a Stealers Wheel classic. “Stuck in the Middle with You” was released in 1973 but it’s stuck in my morning mental music stream today.
I’ve always enjoyed the song. It’s one that Mom used to enjoy singing to us, a surprising change from her usual offerings. She especially liked the part that goes:
And your friends, they all come crawling
Slap you on the back and say
“Please, please”
Hope your day is loop free and takes you to refreshing new times and places.
If not, hang in there. I find that coffee, wine, beer, reading, and napping with fur friend helps.
Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 