Category: crime

Saturday’s Theme Music — Going Down

Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, May 30, 2026.

It’s a gray and chilly May day, 52 F with no blue sky available for the eyes. Bleak sunshine slants in, casting faint shadows. No rain is expected today but our high will crest in the mid 60s again.

Not the happiest of weather but not the worst, either. Makes it perfect for morning reflections on the news and life on this next to last day in May.

Mom’s possessions are going fast. Sis found people who wanted things and invited them over. Now she’s not accepting any money. It has to go, so. We the siblings are fine with that, and agree with that sentiment. We like to know these things will be useful to others.

Gina sends photos of Mom’s rooms and the transformation as items disappear. Click, click, click. It’s forlorn progress.

Likewise, we have forlorn progress against Trump’s moves. Judges have ruled that the Kennedy Center couldn’t have the board just up and change its name and that they needed to stop the renovations because it wasn’t properly addressed. Other judges ruled that Trump’s slush fund might be illegal and no payments can be made from it yet. Diane Ravitch offers good summaries of it all.

Also, an ICE agent who shot a man through a door in Minnesota and lied about it was arrested in Texas.

In other ‘yea’ Trump news, the Comey seashell Federal prosecutor stepped aside. It’s a ridiculous case, likely unwinnable, and that’s probably what he concluded and decided, screw this. Just guessing. But as so many have pointed out on social media, if Trump goes after Comey for ’86 47′, then what about that time that Trump endorsed his supporters showing graphics with President Biden tied up?

Meanwhile, economist Paul Krugman helps us understand more about the Trump economy and We the People’s view of it. Trump and his minions like to crow about how MAGA supports him 100%. And polls show that as true.

But when it comes to the economy, Krugman points out that only MAGA approves of the economy at this point, and they represent 19% of all Americans. Even non-MAGA Republicans are going, no, this is not good.

What’s most disturbing when I look at that MAGA trend line is that it’s slowly increasing. This is despite Trump’s clear lies, corruption, and ineptitude. Truly makes me shake my head. This is why it’s become the Golden Age of Corruption.

Trump’s war in Iran is now over 90 days old.

Classic con man sleight of hand. If he was as interested in the law as he proclaims, he would not ignored it to wreck the White House and begin building the Epstein ballroom. He would have released the Epstein files, as he promised, instead of twisting and turning, trying to claim that it was a hoax.

Today’s music is “I’m Goin’ Down”. This Bruce Springsteen song came out in the mid 1980s. It’s about relationships and songs. I really don’t know why The Neurons parked it in the morning mental music stream today. Sometimes they work in ways that I don’t understand.

Here’s to you and a great day for you and yours.

Cheers

2

Facts & Response

Trump Administration (TA): Woke ruined everything! White men are being discriminated against! It’s not fair to white men!

MAGA: Yea! Woke sucks!

TA: Cities – especially blue cities – are the economic engines of the US. So let’s send ICE there and disrupt flights into them and cause a slowdown there because we don’t like them and their woke liberal policies.

MAGA: Yea! Libruls suck.

TA: Companies will move out of blue cities and blue states to red states.

MAGA: Yeah! Libruls suck.

Blue States: Even though the nation is going through a drought and there’s less and less water available to drink?

MAGA: Fake news!

TA: We have plenty of water, don’t worry. There is a drought going on, don’t worry. It’s weather! Louisiana isn’t sinking, don’t worry. The glaciers aren’t melting, don’t worry. The sea level isn’t rising, don’t worry. The average temperature isn’t rising, don’t worry. That’s all a Chinese Democrat Deep State hoax.

MAGA: Yeah! Hoax!

Media and Economists: The tariffs and war in Iran are driving up oil prices and disrupting supply chains. That increases energy and fertilizer prices. That raises transportation and shipping costs, food prices, healthcare costs, and consumer goods prices. 

TA: Prices might go up a little bit for food but don’t worry, we’ll be better off for it in the long run.

MAGA: Um…yeah.

TA: Don’t worry about the national debt, either. We’re all going to get so rich, it’ll be beautiful.

MAGA: Yeah.

Media and Economists: The rising prices will also affect insurance premiums because they’re tied to the costs of everything else. Insurance is also going up for many homeowners due to more extreme weather events and wildfires.

MAGA:

TA: Forget the Epstein files! It’s a Democrat hoax! They’ve all been released. They’re nothing.

MAGA: Grumble grumble grumble

TA: Look at this ballroom! Isn’t it beautiful? It’s the biggest and most beautiful in the world!

MAGA:

TA: Donors are paying for the ballroom! It’ll only cost 200 million! 300 million! 400 million! We need a billion dollars to make it safe!

MAGA:

TA: And look at this 250th celebration of our nation. Look at this fight we’re staging at the White House!

Media: It’s just like the Coliseum in Rome. Or the Olympic Games in Berlin before World War II.

MAGA:

TA: We’re winning the war in Iran! It’s already over! We obliterated their military! There is no more threat from Iran! It’s all or nothing! They’re running on fumes there! The people are going to rise up and take over! The Strait of Hormuz will be open, or else! We’ll bomb them more! The clock is ticking! They must give up their nuclear program! We destroyed their nuclear program! They have nothing!

MAGA:

Media: Trump has gone golfing today. He’s golfed 23% of the time he’s been in office.

MAGA:

TA: Biden!

MAGA: Biden sucks!

2

What A Deal

I read about the deal between Trump’s DOJ and Trump’s IRS that Trump will drop his lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for immunity from audits.

What absolute crap.

How very un-American. So contrary to the ideals of freedom and equal, a democracy where we all answer to the law of the land.

I vaguely wondered and researched if there had ever been a precedence for this. I also wondered what Constitution originalists would have to say about it. They’re always touting what they think the founders were thinking when the government was established, talking about intentions. How will they reconcile this ‘deal’ with the founders’ intentions?

Trump is acting like a king, giving himself royal prerogatives about how the government will treat him and his crimes.

The reactions are about what we’d expect. MAGA supporters are pleased that Trump is beating the ‘deep state’. Sorry, but I’m not linking to any of those subjects.

These things are happening while Trump pretends to celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the nation he’s undermining and the policies and norms he’s betraying. It’s such a slap in the face to We the People. More troubling is that most of the Republican version of We the People are so willing to be complicit in this travesty.

A ‘modified’ Trump Quote of the Day for you:

Fascinating how the truth is encoded Trump when he projects as he does, isn’t it? It’s one of the few times he tells the truth.

Let’s say it again: no kings. Not in 1776.

Not 250 years later.

4

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Florence, Oregon coast — Tuesday, May 19, 2026.

Catsitter called to say all is well with Papi. He was sort of quizzical about his morning routine, looking around for us, not really ready to eat at first but then gave in and chowed down.

Yes, we’re still at the coast. Another day, another photo.

Temperature is 58 F for the record, not far off of the expected high of 63 F. Tide is out. It was waayyy low earlier this morning.

Other than thinking about Trump and growling about what he’s done so far, I’m not paying much attention to the news. Saw there was another shooting, along with the usual responses from the usual suspects.

It was striking to see how many police cars mobilized to the shooting site in San Diego. We could save so many lives and need far less resources like this if we’d take a sensible approach to gun ownership. Someday, someday, someday…

For music, The Neurons went with “Margaritaville.” This is a Jimmy Buffett song. The Neurons fed it to the morning mental music stream as I cruised the sand. The surf’s sound pounded my ears and the wave play was fantastic. Soooo refreshing. I had a cuppa coffee in my hand as I walked… Well, truth: I had a four shot Americano as I walked. Good stuff. *smile*

Hope you day goes as well as mine, and that our days together will grow brighter, better, and healthier.

The Pacific said to say, “Hello.’

Cheers

2

Sunday’s Theme Music — Sunday blues

Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, May 17, 2026.

Wet, chilly 44 degrees F. Clouds are throttling the sunshine. Rain fell overnight, a good short-term addition to keep the land wet, the plants green, and the reservoirs and cisterns full. Today’s high will be 64 F.

My news feed includes stories on an airline passenger biting a crew member, Trump threatening Boebert, and a car crashing into a crowd in California, killing people. The sad thing about these news pieces are how frequently things like this now fill my feed.

The Trump Iran War has been going 78 days.

The Ukraine-Russia War continues, despite Trump’s promise to end it day one. He later said he was being sarcastic. He also said it was harder than he thought.

The Epstein ballroom is still under construction.

The complete Epstein files have not been released, despite Trump’s promise.

Trump’s disapproval ratings continue to climb. The NYTimes compiled a list of 826 poll results. I reviewed the first pages. Only one poll of 120 showed Trump to have a positive approval rating — +2, by a Republican pollster. All the preceding polls showed polling about Trump red with disapproval.

Project Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! remains in a quiet phase. Get ready for a breakout.

Crooks & Liars shared coverage about Trump and Vance and their financial paperwork. Setting the tone for Americans of all ages and backgrounds, Trump and Vance always diligently fill their paperwork accurately and on time.

No; that’s how it’s supposed to be. But in Trump’s Golden Age of Corruption, Trump and Vance keep failing to fill paperwork on time. Other presidents haven’t had this issue, but then, other presidents weren’t buying and selling stock as Trump does. The Trump White House countered, blind trust, but a rep said, “No, we have the paperwork with Trump’s signature.”

Lies, grift, and chaos are the hallmarks of a Trump operation.

Conover Kennard wrote the C&L post, “Rules Are for Little People”. I love her final paragraph because it summarizes the law-and-order hypocrisy of the Trump operations.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here to suggest that Trump isn’t being forthcoming. Shocking, I know. Last year, Trump publicly attacked Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri for collaborating with Democrats on legislation that would have prohibited the president and vice president from trading stocks. Imagine that.“

Yeah. Imagine that.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

I’d be impressed if Trump began by making the White House crime free.

That’s not going to happen. Bolstered by the Roberts Court ruling that things Trump does as president is above the law, Trump has a different set of rules for himself. He has another set for wealthy friends and powerful people, a third set for his supporters, another set for everyone else except immigrants. Trump has a special set of rules for them, and it doesn’t include law or order, due process, or any of that other fancy US Constitution stuff.

I’m frankly disgusted with Trump’s plan to pay J6 rioters and insurrectionists. Sure, this is law and order in the MAGA mind:

  • Try to overturn the peaceful, fair, and legal elections
  • Threaten elected officials
  • Threaten and beat up law enforcement and destroy government property
  • Reward them for those crimes and behavior

That’s how upside-down Trump, the GOP, and the Roberts Court has turned the world.

Today feels like a bluesy Sunday. Sensing that, The Neurons hooked Gary Moore’s song, “Still Got the Blues (for You)” from the memory bank and began playing it in the morning mental music stream.

My hope for you is that the day works out for you with some semblance of peace, grace, and happiness. Stay strong.

Time for Operation Epic Drink Coffee.

Cheers

0

Watching the Pile Up

It’s a slow-motion crash.

From the beginning of Trump’s run for nomination, he’s made promises, and then broke them. Ignoring laws, experts, and history, he’s followed his own path. Experts warned about the consequences. History informed us about what had happened the last time the things he’s trying were tried. Laws were made to check power and ensure We the People were heard.

Trump ignored it all. The consequences are accelerating.

Trump began his term as 47 suggesting the United States should add a 51st state.

Puerto Rico? Washington, D.C.? Guam? All are natural choices, since their citizens are US citizens.

No. Trump scorned them. An advocate of states’ rights when it suits his agenda, Trump wants the Federal government to take over D.C. Says, “I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful.” You know, like the USPS is doing under him. Or any of his bankrupted businesses.

No, Trump meant Canada should be the 51st state.

Canada balked against the idea. Then they got pissed. Basically flipping the bird at Trump and the United States, Canada reacted to Trump and his threats and tariffs by withdrawing business from the US. Canada’s purchase of US alcohol has dropped 63%.

Using cell phone data, economic analysts are reporting that Canadian tourists boycotted coming to the United States for business and vacations more than is generally reported. When they did come, they stayed for less time and spent less money.

Pivoting under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump suggested Greenland would be a great 51st state.

Then, deciding that law and order meant whatever he decided it meant, Trump used the US military to kidnap Venezuela’s President and his wife. Trump later suggested, maybe Venezuela should be our new 51st state, bringing WTF frowns to many people’s faces. Many frowns deepened when he’s shifted to talking about Panama as a 51st state.

The bottom line from Trump’s rash behavior is the US lost a valuable trading ally in Canada. Canadian tourists are staying away. That’s contributing to declines in tourism to the US. Most of the money being spent on travel in the US now is by US citizens.

Meanwhile, Trump’s military has been spending so much money that they now must save money. How will they do that? Why, by cutting training. Yes, sir, nothing works better to keep the nation’s military strong and ready then cutting training! How very Trumpy logic it is.

Part of the reason why the US military is cash strapped is Trump’s war with Iran. Trump had Iran attacked in June 2025 to stop their nuclear program. Trump declared that military operation was successful.

Yet, in February of 2026, Trump had Iran attacked again. To stop their nuclear program. In April, he declared that Iran’s military was ‘decimated’.

But here we are, more than two and a half months later, with Trump threatening to attack Iran again as Operation Sledgehammer because Iran is still fighting back.

As part of Trump’s war on fraud, waste, and abuse, he created DOGE. Headed by billionaire Elon Musk, DOGE trampled constitutional norms and arbitrarily decided what was waste, never mind what Congress had decided. That campaign led to over $100,000,000 in funding for 1,400 grants to the National Endowments for the Humanities (NEH) being cancelled or terminated.

A year later, a judge has ruled what many of us said a year ago: Trump lacks the authority to cancel these grants. The people he authorized to do so employed specious reasoning when they cancelled them. That Trump and Musk worked through two twenty-year-olds without experience in grants or the humanities, people who did not bother to review the applications or grants, was just another demonstration of the Trump administration arrogance, recklessness, and due process.

NEH is expected to restore the funding. We’re waiting to see if Trump’s DOJ will appeal.

Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, was caught blatantly lying by Jen Psaki. Jen Psaki noted that Eric, a citizen entrusted with running the Trump business while his father is in the White House, went to China with Dad. Eric said it was because he was an adoring son. Psaki said it was because he was doing business with China and was on the board of Alt5. Eric denied having anything to do with Alt5 and threatened to sue Psaki and the network. Psaki pulled up the information about Eric Trump being introduced as a board member of Alt5 last year.

BTW, Eric Trump is cozying up to the Chinese to build Data Centers in the US with a Chinese chip manufacturer.

Eric, like Dozy Donnie, thought he could lie with impunity. He and Donnie both forget we’re in the information age. Fact checking is easily available if you have the time and interest.

Trump’s backward thinking is catching up with Trump and his family and supporters. It’s a slow-motion crash, but sooner or later, the tipping point will be reached and it’ll all fall over.

Many events are on the horizon which could cause the tipping point:

  • Climate change and forecasted super El Nino, with hot, dry weather extending the drought
  • The Trump Iran War, and its disruptions to the global supply change and rising prices
  • The accelerating national debt
  • More legal rulings against Trump, DOGE, Trump’s tariffs
  • A cratering economy
  • Rural healthcare hospital crises and rising insurance premiums and costs
  • Low tourism to the US with falling World Cup ticket prices and attendance
  • Trump’s worsening health and cognitive decline
  • Trump’s increasingly open corruption and grift

My question is, how bad will the fall be for the nation and its people?

2

Thursday’s Theme Music — State of things

Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, May 14, 2026.

It’s blue out there, full of sunshine. Clouds are absent. 50 F with a high in the mid 70s today.

Thunderstorms looked possible yesterday but it didn’t happen. Just as in the previous days of forecasted activity. After the winter snow drought, May is at 3% of its average rainfall.

Our snowpack is at about 7%. While the reservoirs are above 80%, without snowmelt to replenish them, it’ll be a hot, dry summer. Stack the El Nino predictions, many of us are bracing ourselves for a rough year ahead.

Mom’s state is not good. She wasn’t responding to my sister’s texts. Sis called the assisted living facility, Heritage Grove, to ask about Mom. They said Mom went to bed before dinner and had not felt well all day.

On the optimistic side of the board, two neighbors are reportedly interested in buying Mom’s house.

My wife and I had new tires installed. For the record, we replaced a set that we’d bought in 2019. Got 35,000 miles out of them. Not great, not bad.

We bought them at Costco and had them installed there, shopping while we waited. As we were in the Medford area, we decided to eat out and chose the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant. My wife likes the salmon they serve there.

We couldn’t eat there. The way was blocked by ambulances and firetrucks. Wondering what’s going on, we took to our phones to learn. Nothing at the fire department, alert system, social media, or local television stations could give us that info.

This duplicated a Tuesday incident, in my mind. Driving home from writing at the coffee shop, one lane of traffic was blocked off in front of an SOU building on Siskiyou Avenue. What happened? I searched for information after I got home and couldn’t find anything. 24 hours later, the answer came: a woman had driven across the median strip, up a walkway, and into a building, breaking a gas meter along the way.

Miserable headlines fill my feed. When will there be good news? I’m not sure what I mean by good news at this point. An end to wars would be nice, along with a return to normalcy. Normalcy to me is let’s take action against polluting our air and water. Action against climate change. But the cynic in me says that PINO Trump would take credit for whatever and enough brain-dead people would slurp that down and bray about how great Dozy Donnie is that I’d regurgitate everything taken in during the last three days.

But here’s the state of things in the United States nation in one sharp observation someone else made:

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Paraphrasing, Trump lies, says this isn’t so bad, Biden! Because that worked well previously under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Enough people with brains are responding, screw you.

You started a war, Donald J “No new wars” Trump.

The economy is a mess, gas prices are rising, all the prices are rising, Donald J “We’ll cut prices on day 1” Trump, and the country is going in the wrong direction.

And you, DONALD J TRUMP, YOU ARE THE REASON WE’RE IN SIX MILLION MESSES WITH NO WAY OUT EXCEPT TO FIRST GET RID OF YOU AND YOUR CRONIES.

Now stop building the damn ballroom and release the damn Epstein files so we can feast on your political corpse.

The Neurons inserted “Mind Games” by John Lennon into my morning mental music stream. This actually came about from Papi’s state of mind this morning. I played with him and his favorite nemesis, the red dot. The play began abruptly. As soon as he engaged, I stopped for about a minute. He kept peeking left and right, waiting for it to reappear. Just as he started walking off, I blinked it back on. Off Papi went, chasing it across the room, then stalking it.

I hope your Thursday brings you some good news and fair winds, assuming you need winds to get somewhere. Like you drive a sail car and need to have wind to blow you along the Interstate.

Have my coffee now. Cheers

2

Dominoes

Trump’s broken promises have consequences.

The dominoes are falling over…

With Trump in the Oval Office and his policies in place:

  • Food insecurity is a rising problem under Trump’s leadership.
    • Food banks across the nation are seeing rising demand and costs. New data and analyses confirm grocery prices for American households have begun rising due to the ongoing war with Iran.
    • Further increases are projected throughout 2026, thanks to higher fuel, fertilizer, and shipping costs. Food banks and food pantries are seeing 20% to 30% increases in traffic in the Phoenix (AZ), Midwest, North Carolina, and Southwest.
    • The Oregon Food Bank reports a 51% increase in the past two years.
  • Measles are a rising threat. The states most affected by measles outbreaks in 2026 are all led by Republicans: South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Florida. The United States has seen 1,842 cases and 25 new outbreaks since the start of 2026.
  • Gas prices continue to create new records. My friends paid $6.79 per gallon for gas in California this last weekend.
  • Donnie “No new wars” Trump’s war with Iran has been going for two months and eleven days. Some estimates put the war’s financial cost for the US at $50,000,000,000 to date.
  • If you’re waiting on your Trump phone, there’s an update from Android Authority: ‘The update states that a preorder deposit “provides only a conditional opportunity if Trump Mobile later elects, in its sole discretion, to offer the Device for sale.” It also adds that a preorder deposit is “not a purchase.”’ The Trump phone was originally offered in June, 2025. It was supposed to be made in the USA.
  • The Epstein files still aren’t released.

We also have these gems:

  • The ballroom, which wasn’t going to cost US citizens anything, will cost $1,000,000,000 or more.
  • The $1.8 million dollars to ‘paint’ the Lincoln Memory Reflecting Pool cost $11,300,000.
  • More of Trump’s tariffs have been declared illegal. The problem with the tariffs and rulings is that companies pay the tariffs by passing them on to the consumer. Yet, there’s little sign that as tariffs are refunded to tariffs that consumers will receive refunds.

Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is falling short of its goals of distracting voters from Trump’s failures and our losses.

Trump’s pattern is clear now.

Unfortunately, not all voters have caught on to Trump and his scams.

The midterms are coming soon.

Trump is panicking. Disapproval is rising. Failures are stacking up.

Get ready for some audacious Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

2

Wednesday’s Theme Music

Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, May 5, 2026.

Today’s is a picturesque spring day, Ashland edition — sunshine, clouds, 56 F. They say we’re heading to the lower eighties. We cracked 80 at my place yesterday.

I caught up on some local news last night. A rural hospital crisis is affecting the United States. Been going on for years but getting worse.

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill worsened the situation. By removing healthcare subsidies, healthcare premiums shot up. Many people had no choice but to severely cut back.

It’s playing out here in southern Oregon.

Asante warns of a projected $50M shortfall leading to 300+ job cuts

Asante is already reducing many services at Asante Ashland Community Hospital in my town. Now operating in other southern Oregon cities such as Medford and Grants Pass, they note that they’ve lost money in the first six months of this fiscal year and cut personnel. Part of the reason why they’re losing money is buried in a paragraph down in the story:

“Patients covered by private insurance are at the lowest percentage in Asante’s history at just over 14% of all patients so far in 2026.”

Oregon saw average premium hikes of nearly 10% for individuals after Trump’s OBBB took effect. Asante’s CEO noted that many local businesses are being priced out of offering health insurance due to these rising costs. Medicare and Medicaid barely cover the costs they say. It’s not a sustainable model.

Yet, with this crisis going on, Trump pretends to worry about the Iranians having nukes and attacks them.

Trump worries about his own security and image, naming things after himself, wrecking part of the White House to build that ridiculous Epstein ballroom, which went from ‘costing Americans nothing’ to $1,000,000,000.

Trump screams freedom! Security! Peace! Then he has the military attack and kill more people in boats.

So much for law and order.

Waiting to see what Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! brings today.

Your Trump Quotes of the Day.

He’s so consistently inconsistent!

Today’s song was another one inspired by Papi, my ginger furbrother. I was petting him after giving him his meds. He was purring like mad. But his personality requires that he be given space. I wouldn’t let him go, keeping hold of him until he gave me an annoyed look. Meanwhile, I laughed and sang the lines from “Magic” by The Cars:

I’ve got a hold on you
I got a hold on you
Got a hold on you

I’m off for my cystoscopy to see what’s going on in my bladder. It’s being done at Asante in Medford so I better do it before they close.

I hope the best possible day of grace, peace, and joy finds you and carries you on through life on a great wave.

Cheers

1

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑