Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, June 11, 2026.
It’s blue skies and warmer temperatures for us today. Like the weather has just awakened to the season and decided, alright, let’s go.
Tear it up, break it up, go for it. That’s Trump. He alone decides what ‘we’ the nation will do. This is true whether we’re going to war, escalating violence, tearing down the White House, remodeling it, building, modifying, or renaming monuments.
Trump ignores the law, goes around the requirements, skips past reviews. Then, as work begins and We the People protest, we go to court. While the issues are adjudicated, Trump keeps tearing and down and building. He’s been doing this with attacking Iran, building the Epstein ballroom — well, it’s a long list.
It’s also a giant middle finger at We the People, our political norms, checks and balances, laws, and Constitution.
The GOP is okay with it. Him. Speaker Johnson metaphorically shrugs. The media tiptoes around what he’s doing, because the other thing Trump does is threaten. His administration holds a bunch of keys. Everyone knows it. And Trump has demonstrated he has no concerns for anything and anyone but himself. Beyond his words, his policies reflect it. He thinks, oh, the war will end and prices will drop.
Really? Is that what happened when prices rose during COVID?
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Trump was lying, of course. He always lies. He began acting like a dictator on day one, and still is.
That’s why protests are important. When Congress stands aside, SCOTUS enables, and the press backs away, We the People must stand up.
Show up again. Keep showing up, please. We don’t like the direction Trump is taking us and must change it.
Today’s morning mental music stream song is “Invisible Sun” by The Police. I was reflecting on my childhood and pictures of smoky, polluted skies we would see in the newspaper. By then, our skies were much clearer and cleaner. Now, Trump is turning it back in the name of making money.
Sample Lyrics
It’s dark all day and it glows all night Factory smoke and acetylene light I face the day with my head caved in Lookin’ like somethin’ that the cat brought in
My hopes for you are that the sun is warm, the air is fresh and clean, and your spirits are high.
Americans are irritated. Worried. Bothered. Inflation has pushed up the costs of new homes, home repairs, car insurance, healthcare, health insurance premiums, food, and energy.
Back when Trump started his war with Iran, he mentioned, “We’re not at war.” He often did it with a little sly week, instead referring to it variously as a conflict, operation, or excursion. Yet, he still used terms like dropping bombs and talked about destroying Iran.
MAGA, who loves Trump, immediately began parroting Trump’s language. So, the Iran ‘conflict’ is fine with them, because we’re not at war, and he didn’t break his promise, “No new wars.”
That’s why “I love inflation” makes sense now. They’ll hear Trump say that and begin using his phrase. They’ll get all gleeful and giddy about inflation — using Trump’s terminology, of course, about how inflation is good because we’re fighting Iran, and that’s some kind of good thing, in his head.
That makes it totally swell for MAGA.
For the rest of us in the real world, the inflation isn’t good and has serious repercussions on health, happiness, and the quality of life.
Also, making statements like, “I love inflation,” is part of Trump’s Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! distraction weave.
Look — I tore down the White House east wing! Building the biggest ballroom ever!
Look — I painted the Lincoln reflecting pool!
Look — I bombed Iran! Saved us all from nuclear annihilation!
Look — there’s election cheating going on in California!
Lightly rained off and on all day yesterday. We have a marbled sky today, gray and white against blue. Sunshine cuts through the clouds, darkening the mountain’s greenery with shadow islands. 56 F, our high will cut into the mid 70s. I don’t mind; give me this instead of the drought’s extreme dry and the blistering heat that usually strikes.
Gina is on the warpath, as we put it in my household growing up, a carryover from Mom and her generation and those before her. Mom called Gina with reports of theft and the lack of regular cleaning. Mom said that she’s been cleaning her own bathroom floors with wet wipes.
As the most confrontational of my family, Gina charged right in: this needs to be fixed. What’s the ‘or else’ implied? I’m not sure. It might be ‘more Gina’.
My wife got her latest ‘real ID’ yesterday. This one has the star. What will adorn them next?
Getting that for her required an appointment and a visit to the ‘big’ DMV in Medford. It was either go there or camp out at the Ashland DMV every morning and hope the Gods of Bureaucracy were kind.
She took in her birth certificate. Not the real thing, but a tattered, certified ‘photographic reproduction’ created in 1962. Much of the birth certificate’s entries were in cursive. The DMV agent, a very nice person, laughed about the struggles to read cursive, as she hasn’t had to in a while. That led to a sidebar about her children. They don’t know cursive and when she writes notes using cursive, they ask things like, “What language is that?”
That chased us into a conversation about signatures. The DMV agent said anything can be used and recognized as a ‘signature’. From further conversation, it appears that we’re basically going back to ‘making our mark’.
On the Trump side of things, my wife and I were talking about the food prices. My gosh, how they’ve gone up.
I did a search about Bessent’s claim and saw that he’s made that claim a few times the last several months. And as late as last November – 2025 – he was trying to blame Democrats for the prices. I know from Trump’s latest Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! pivot, aka the Trump Iran war, that Trump knows that prices are higher. He knows that the war is causing it.
*probably also knows his tariffs are causing them but won’t admit it because that would reveal he’s been wrong all along*
Trump, though, has pivoted. He’s not worried about high prices, affordability, or Americans’ finances, no; he’s saving us from Iranian nukes.
Ironically, of course, that was also the Bush-Cheney claim for the war against Iraq: WMD.
Yes, Trump and the GOP have dragged WMD back out of the closet. They’ve avoided using that phrase.That phrase — WMD — is loaded with baggage for US voters and the world.
It shows that in the end, Trump and the GOP only have three dimensions to their strategy: fear, distract, and cause dis-unity. For when facts, truth, and unity show up, Democrats win, and we move forward. Not evenly, and certainly not perfectly. But we move forward in our efforts against poverty, food deserts, climate change, and real challenges. Not fake challenges that are monsters only in unthinking minds.
The Epstein ballroom remains under construction. No new news on who is paying for it.
Trump’s approval continues its slow crash. Disapproval numbers show a sea of red. In a way, Trump is starting to live up to the vision he had of himself as a ‘unifying’ force; unity in disapproval of him and his policies is increasing.
My morning thoughts were about a dream that involved flying. The Neurons were snooping around, found out, and introduced “Aeroplane” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers into the morning mental music stream. Hope you enjoy it.
My hopes for everyone and everything is to go with peace and grace and make life better for all of us. Not just a privileged few.
Terribly deep blue sky is out there, reflecting the front capping the valley. Clear and sunny, the temperatures are hovering in the mid 50s F but are on their way up to 70.
I’ve been running into friends who have ‘heard the news’ about my bladder cancer. They get the look and posture of concern. Ask how I am, offer to do things for me, all those things that we do. I love the support but dislike the attention.
Of course, it’s more than me. Most of my friends have lost friends and family to cancer of different kinds. They carry that weight.
Mom’s house is still being cleaned out. Gina sent a photo of Mom’s empty closet. Mom’s closet was always tight with clothes but impeccably organized. She had a thing with hangers, using different types of hangers for different materials and needs, a process born from years of life, routines, plans.
Habitat for Humanity is closed to donations in that area. Gina is paying Goodwill to come, take the furniture out, haul it away. The sales of some other furniture, purses, Corning Ware, fans, and electronics will cover those costs. The clothes are being given to various area charities. The irony is that the cost is about $600, which is almost as much as Mom paid for that furniture twenty years ago.
To have a life reduced to dollars and cents.
I have thoughts on Trump today, gleaned from new articles, but I’m running late. My wife arose early to continue cleaning the refrigerator. I couldn’t stand by and not help. It’s all done now, and yes, looks great and was worthwhile to do.
The music in today’s morning mental music stream is “I’m Alright”. Kenny Loggins wrote and performed it. The song was used as the theme music for “Caddyshack”, a movie with Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, Michael O’Keefe, Ted Knight, and Chevy Chase that came out in 1980. It also starred a groundhog.
We were stationed in Japan shortly after that. Home video players were just hitting the market. We bought one and would go down and buy bootleg recordings of movies like “Caddyshack”. Then the USO at the base main gate opened a video rental business where we could rent videos for a dollar. Pause to reflect, that was over forty years ago. Where did the time go?
Hope your weekend is going well and is full of more happy peaks than low valleys.
I stood in the bathroom, using my electric toothbrush to brush my teeth. Looking over at the toothbrush holder, I wondered, “Hey, where’s my toothbrush?”
Blue sky, cool air, and sunshine marks the valley. We’re at 59 F and expect a high of the upper seventies.
In Mom’s world, it’s been quiet on her health. No feedback from her visit to the hospital ER and the tests they ran. On the housing side of it, there’s a good offer on Mom’s house. I voted to take it, but they have opted to wait and see if more come in. The offer expires tomorrow night.
In depressing US news, the Roberts Court ruled Alabama can use its new Congressional map. A lower court found it racial. But the Roberts Court, hiding behind the shadow docket, said, “It’s good,” without bothering to sign their opinion. This is the John Roberts’ legacy.
Trump’s legacy is war, lies, and fake news. News reports are bubbling over the job reports. Based on economic factors and indicators, economists were expected another bad one. Gosh, somehow the Trump appointee managed to find ‘good’ numbers.
No, the numbers aren’t sterling. I expect them to be revised downward in a few months or exposed as fake. That’s in keeping with Trump’s preaching. He’s always shouting fake news, fake news while lying about what’s happening or planned.
He lied and promised no new wars, claimed the war was over, and we won, and yet, the war goes on. So, no, I don’t believe anything come out of the Trump administration.
I don’t have a Trump Quote of the Day available. Instead, I offer this image of Trump celebrating Pride Month.
I got a song stuck in my morning mental music stream: “Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now”. The song, from 1987, was performed by Starship. It’s the theme song to the move, “Mannequin”. I have never seen it.
I don’t know why The Neurons planted it in my morning stream. I was doing my dream recall routine and the song started. It doesn’t seem to be specifically related to any part of any dream, though. Hope you enjoy it.
Enjoy your first June Friday! Hope peace, happiness, and joy fill it.
Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
Pleasant valley Wednesday. 66 F, sunshine percolates through some clouds. Rain and a high of 76 F are expected.
Mom and my sister went through a rough day yesterday, spending over eight hours at ER. Classic ER scene as the staff attempts to help everyone but there are so many who need help. They got home early in the AM this morning.
We’re not sure what’s going on with Mom. She had a CT scan but no results have been shared with us. At one point, they asked her if she wanted or needed anything, then added, but nothing to drink or eat. We all knew that usually means surgery. But surgery was never mentioned. She went home tired, thirsty, hungry, and sleepy.
Home: her shared room at the assisted living facility.
The US — or Trump, specifically — is between a rock and hard place. After Trump claimed he would end the Russia – Ukraine War, it continues with fresh strikes by Ukraine on Russia today.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who said this was a small operation back in March, was not available for comment. Trump’s Iran War was supposed to be over in weeks if not sooner, according to Republicans back in March. Now the war has been going 95 days.
Without too much surprise for me, I read that the Trump administration is dragging its feet on refunding Trump tariffs as ordered by the courts. Meanwhile, Trump dropped more tariffs on 60 nations, claiming it’s because they use forced labor.
Over in World Cup news, a Swiss player is waiting to see if he’ll be taking part in the games because the US has not said he’s allowed in yet, and the Iranians are worried about their team’s ability to come and go to the US.
The Epstein files aren’t completely released, and the Epstein ballroom is still short of funds but under construction. Under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump is now not worried about it as a ballroom, but as a drone port. It’s all about the nation’s defense!
Of course, as I understand it, arming the White House to the teeth basically raises its value as a military target. After all, that’s what the US did in Iran: we went after the drone and missile launch sites.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
What hyperbole. Trump blasts a judge and rants, “we can no longer defend Washington, D.C., with rifles and pistols, alone.”
Let’s face it, too; if the US has reached a point in a conflict that we’re depending on drones on top of the White House to defend us, we’re pretty screwed.
Today’s music comes out of the thought stew bubbling my brain this morning. Spying on me, The Neurons brought the Rolling Stones and “Rock and A Hard Place” to the morning mental music stream.
Sample Lyrics:
We’re stuck between a rock And a hard place Between a rock (yeah) and a hard place
This talk of freedom And human rights Means bullying and private wars and Chucking all the dust into our eyes
And peasant people Poorer than dirt Who are caught in the crossfire ain’t nothin’
To lose but their shirts, yeah
May your day be carried forward with peace and grace.
