Category: humor

Wednesday’s Theme Music — Right Now

Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday, September 30, 2026.

Gonna be a warm autumn day here — 85 F at its hottest — with springlike ambiance among the fall foliage.

Had one of those sighing but I must laugh moments today. Reading politics (of course, sigh). And about a Trump administration announcement by the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth was announcing Project Meridian. Looking to the United States’ future needs, Hegseth is tapping Trump’s favored billionaire — Elon Musk — along with Newt Gingrich, an 83-year-old politician, and Palmer Luckey, a weapons manufacturer.

Yeah, that sounds like an effective group. *eye roll* Perfect for looking forward to protect America’s future.

As Newt Gingrich once said, “You can’t trust anybody with power.” I certainly don’t Hegseth and this triumvirate, or Donald Trump.

Then, oh Lordy, we had the spectacle of a GOP senator attempting to trap Jack Smith in his testimony, only for Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt to reveal himself as a buffoon. It’s another one of those situations which would be funny — certainly worth of a Saturday Night Live skit — except this is a US senator, an elected official who is supposed to be capable of deciding our nation’s laws and solving its problems, which makes this painfully, painfully sad.

5 Points About a Senator’s Disastrous But Hilarious Attempt to Accuse Jack Smith of Perjury – TPM – Talking Points Memo

Both of these stories echo with the stupidity of Pizzagate and other QAnon insanity.

Then there’s a ‘this-is-so-expected’ headline about Meta using AI to cheat on its Federal taxes.

How Meta Uses A.I. Data Centers to Avoid Billions in Federal Taxes

That about seems up my morning view of things. It ended up leaving me thinking, right now, I could use some good news, and moved on to other needs.

Hearing that, though, The Neurons introduced the Van Halen song, “Right Now” to my morning mental music stream. It’s a good song to carry me through the day, strong sound, solid vocals. Hope you find something in it.

May some good news find you right now and carry you forward on its shoulders for a couple days at least.

Cheers

0

Thanks for the Broken Promises, Donald Trump

Today ends the ninth month of 2026.

Just a little month than a month and a few days remain until the November midterm elections. It’s a good time to reflect on what Donald Trump promised and what Donald Trump delivered.

Back in 2024, Donald Trump promised no new wars. At the end of Feb, just seven months ago, Trump started a new war with Iran. Donald Trump has since claimed we won the war or that it’s over or that it’s almost over over 30 times.

How can anyone still believe anything Donald Trump says about the war with Iran after that?

Donald Trump’s story about his relationship with Epstein and the Epstein files shifts just as much.

From that quote, Trump drifting into telling us that he barely knew Epstein.

““Well, I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach,” Trump said in 2019 soon after Epstein was charged. “I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn’t a fan.”

When asked in 2024 while he was running for office, Donald Trump said that he would release the Epstein files if elected. Almost two years into his second term, they still haven’t been fully released, and Trump’s DOJ continues to avoid doing so, despite a law saying he would.

While campaigning in 2024, Donald Trump assured voters he would lower prices, vilifying President Biden’s economy as he did.

Now AAA national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.43. By comparison, the national average in September 2024 hovered between $3.06 and $3.24, meaning drivers are paying roughly $1.20 to $1.37 more per gallon today than they did two years ago.

Many food prices are higher this year than they were in 2024, especially beef, coffee, chicken, and fruit and vegetables.

Thanks, Donald Trump, for breaking all of these promises and assurances.

Thanks to Donald Trump’s arrogance, Americans can no longer see the White House’s East Wing. Donald Trump demolished it to build a new ballroom. Donald Trump claimed that balloom would cost Americans nothing because donors were paying for it all. Now Trump insists that the ballroom is being build for ‘national security’.

We the People will pay about $1B for a project we didn’t ask for and Congress never approved.

It’s like renting your house to someone. While they’re living there, they tear down part of it because they’re living there, so they assume they have the right to change it as they want.

These things are not even the top of the mountain, and Trump has brought a mountain of disaster to the United States and the world. Today’s headlines will help keep us focused on what a disaster Trump is in his second term of office.

The Government Rolled Back Fuel Economy Standards. Here’s How Many Lives It Will Cost

Only Trump Would Spell United States Wrong in an Executive Order

Donald Trump embarrassed as NFL ratings claim is contradicted

Trump Used to Be Good at Attacking the Press. Things Have Changed.

From the horse’s mouth: Trump’s comment on his presidency becomes accidental self-own

That last headline leads us to your Trump Quote of the Day:

Renaming AI to something else is Donald Trump’s latest effort in the Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! playbook. As with many other things, Donald Trump, arrogant and ignorant, thinks that just because he thinks of something and says it aloud, it’s so.

Desperate to make something out of nothing because 2026 has been such a horrible year for Donald Trump, he tried to make it look like he was being praised for being great.

Instead, he stupidly confessed that he’s doing a shitty job.

Couldn’t have said it better, Donald Trump.

Couldn’t have said it better.

1

Monday’s Theme Music – Blues

Ashland, southern Oregon. Monday, September 28, 2026.

Lovely fall day with bold white billowy clouds and small, scattered negligee clouds hanging against a blue sky. Temperature crept out of the forties into the mid 70s F.

I got the first world blues this morning. Internet went out at 11:15 last night. I rebooted our system and went to bed. All looked good this morning but ‘lo, no Internet. I called our ISP, Ashland Home Net (HSN), to see what they could tell me. First tech said, “Reboot your router for me.” Pretty damn imperial about it, too. I did and we agreed I’d call back in ten minutes if it didn’t work.

Fifteen minutes later, I called HSN again. This tech was not the same as the first tech. He told me, “Oh, there’s an outage in the city. They’re working on it. Should be fixed in an hour. If you still don’t have a connection then, call back.”

Hour later, no connection, call back. Get the first tech who told me again, “I told you to just reset your router.”

I blew up on him and channeled my pissed-off senior NCO genes, which greatly changed his attitude. Anyway, to make this long story a little shorter, I decided I needed a new modem.

In parallel to this happening, my sister, Gina, took Mom to a doctor’s appointment as a follow up to the UTI that sent her to the hospital, keeping us up to date via texts. Mom has also been complaining of chest pains. EKG showed no issues with Mom’s heart or pace maker, but other test showed that yes, she still had a UTI. So, there’s more antibiotics scheduled, and an appointment with another doctor.

Gina took Mom clothes shopping, too, which was very nice of her.

Back here at home, it was our day to do Food & Friends delivery. However, my wife didn’t put it on the official house calendar, so we were double booked. We had noticed some slight leaking around the bathroom skylight. I’d scheduled a consultation for today for 11, which directly conflicted with the F&F timing. A friend volunteered to replace me so my wife could do the route and deliveries while I stayed home with the skylight folks.

Skylight folks, Andy and James, arrived at 11 and left at 11:30. Just flashing, Andy assured me. I’m waiting or the estimate to get that done. He says it’s minor work and can schedule it and do it done soon as I say go.

So, that was my morning. As I say, first world blues.

Later that day…(which is, yes, today…)

Went to the coffee shop. Researched routers. Went out and bought a new one. Came home, installed it. Everything except my Ooma VOIP linked up. I’m working on it.

My wife’s Food & Friends deliveries with her friend went fantastic! Everyone was home, and many were already at the door when she arrived. My wife said it was much better than when I go with her… *smile*

Later that same day…(which is, yes, still today..)

I was focused on software, settings for the new router, etc. Modem, cell phones, computers, and Roku all seamlessly connected. Terrific!

Our Ooma VOIP wouldn’t connect.

I’ve been an Ooma customer since 2008, and the unit I have is now ten years old. I thought that maybe its card had gone. No matter what I tried, I could not connect between the router and the Ooma telos. Lo, turned out to be the old ethernet cable was failing. With that replaced, all is up and running. Took hours of trying different paths, though. But, yes, done.

So ends my first world blues.

Today’s song is “Roadhouse Blues”. The Neurons began playing this 1970 song by The Doors when I rolled out of bed and told myself, “Let’s get this day rolling.” Bang, the song rolled through my morning mental music stream.

I hope your day treated you well, and you were able to avoid all kinds of blues, whether they were just simple first world complaints like mine today, or more serious blues.

Cheers

0

Almost Compiled

This is a quartet of micro stacks I wrote this evening: “Slumpin'”, “Looped”, “Shutdown:”, and “Reboot”.

I’m reading “Vineland” at the present. A scene in which one character, Sasha, is trying to cash a check was the trigger for this series. The manager can’t cash the check because a stop payment has been put on it. Sasha asks how is that possible, because it’s night. The manager then explains, “It’s computers. They never sleep. They’re on 24 hours.”

Cheers

Slumpin’

Looped

Shutdown:

ReBoot

0

The Writing Moment

I shared some chapters from “A Tribe Called Death” with GPTZero, which ‘detects’ AI writing. It told me my submissions were 100% human.

Then it asked, “Do you want some help improving this?”

I’m a little insulted.

0

Friday’s Theme Music — The AI Convergence

Ashland, southern Oregon. Friday, September 25, 2026.

It’s autumn. Several trees in my backyard suddenly have golden leaves curling and browning, falling to the ground, done. 61 F, our peak temperature is 68. Sunshine fills the windows but rainclouds crowd the mountains.

I’m just going to drift for a moment, reflecting on the possibility that politicians begin employing AI agents to secretly replace staff while maintaining a fiction that the staff is still human. The AI agents are given social security numbers of dead children, and are paid as if they’re human employees, but the elected officials pocket it all. And the AI agents inform them on how to ‘read the people’s mood, slicing and dicing multiple buckets of entertainment, news, spending, and saving to refine the political tone and stay in office.

In fact, Trump isn’t real. Just as portrayed in the architecture of “The Matrix” franchise, Trump is an AI-generated distraction, generating more distractions to keep us off focus. Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is run by AI. No war is going on, and there is no White House. Nor is there Taylor Swift, movies, or football, baseball, soccer games. It’s all AI-generated, live on our screens, delivered to our minds.

As a matter of fact, humanity may have checked out long ago. The planet died; and we’re all AI-generated simulations, wondering where we’re going and what we’re doing. Other sentient species have arrived and are doing autopsies on our dead civilizations, replicating what happened, in effect, bringing us back to life.

For all I know, there is no weather, no Mom calling me to talk in a fading, whispery voice, no sisters sending me texts.

Here is Crackout with “This Is What We Do” from 2004.

Sample Lyrics

I’m breaking a mirror
And I’m buying a new one too
And I’ll talk in a whisper
‘Cause this is what we do
This is what we do

Not breaking a vessel
Not even a race of pulse
It’s not worth getting stressed for
‘Cause this is what we do
This is what we do

And I guess you’ve been there too
For flying
And I suppose I won’t get through
But you’ll hear me
And I’ll say what I will use
‘Cause I’m worn out and nothing’s left to use

I’m making an offer
But it’s one that you can refuse
And you’ll learn how to spot her
‘Cause this is what we do

h/t to Lyricsmode.com

Sorry about the mood. I’m going to go watch some animal videos. They may not be real but they’re warm, funny, and very human.

Time for some digital coffee.

Cheers

3

The Trump Receipts

Who had Trump will ignore the court on their bingo cards?

I wasn’t overly surprised to read the Trump White House still refused to let the MS Now, Politico, and CNN reporters in after a judge issued an injunction against the White House ban on the three news organizations.

Trump declares himself as a ‘law and order’ proponent but keeps breaking laws. He also claims to be for peace while ordering attacks on other nations and insists he’s for technology — pushing AI and data centers — while stopping work on wind and solar-energy initiatives.

Likewise, Trump declared he’s for freedom of the press and freedom as speech while trying to shut down both. So ignoring the court’s ruling is totally in line with his general hypocrisy and double standards. I mean, he promised no new wars and then went to war and declared that he never promised no new wars and it’s not a war anyway. LOL. His duplicity and lawlessness are breathtaking.

Ironically, it’s technology that reveals what Trump said, context and all, proving that he said it. We have receipts: video. Transcripts. Records. He can squirm and try to wriggle out of what he said, but as long as we keep paying attention, facts and truths won’t be forgotten.

That circles us back to the Epstein files — again. Trump said that, yeah, I’ll probably release them. Then he insisted the Epstein files are a Democrat hoax.

That’s another of his favorite tactics, calling things a hoax, and blaming it on the Democrats.

Trump calls affordability crisis a ‘hoax.’ The data tells a different story

Impeaching Trump — twice — was a Democrat hoax; the Democrats’ criticism of how Trump was handling the coronavirus pandemic — hoax; Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election was a hoax, according to Trump.

Trans-Pacific Partnership? Hoax.

Climate change? Hoax, in Trumpworld.

Even rural MAGA voters have caught onto Trump’s methods and policies.

MAGA voters turned off by President Trump’s falsehoods in 2026

The distractions, lies, and broken promises are catching up with Trump.

We the People have receipts, and we’re not letting this go.

1

Wednesday’s Theme Music — You!

Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday, September 23, 2026.

66 F, we have blue skies, contrails, and the potential to hit 78 today, a fallish, warmish day.

One contrail fascinated me. Coming in from the southwest, the contrail cut east over Ashland’s airspace before turning due east for a short distance, then veered northeast. Studying the fat contrail, I wondered what air vessel caused those traces and what they were up to.

My wife and I were quietly reading the news this morning when she began railing about something. Engaged in thought, I didn’t play close attention.

Then she started up about Trump’s ballroom — the one he began building to distract us from the Epstein files, the one he said would be paid for by donors and cause taxpayers nothing. We talked about the story about the architect who quit the ballroom project because Trump, safety, and common sense. My wife was practically snarling when she quoted Trump from the story, “I am the code.”

Yes, I honestly get why that pissed her off. Trump loves claiming he knows more than anyone on topics, declaring that he’s an expert. The results say otherwise.

Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:

My wife then went on about a pet peeve of hers, people parking in front of our house. One car has been there several weeks, which really gets her going. She says things, “I hate it when people do that.” Seems like overdramatic language to me, and unnecessary anger, but it’s a pet peeve. They’re not overly logical.

Anyway, I began chuckling to myself about her outbursts. Something in her tone caused The Neurons to play “Everything About You” in my morning mental music stream. The hard-rock Ugly Kid Joe song came out back in 1992. It’s a playful take on someone with a negative attitude expressing how much they hate things. They hate the rain and sunshine, beach and mountains, country, and city.

Sample Lyrics

I hate the rain and sunny weather
And I, I hate the beach and mountains too, boo-hoo
And I don’t like a thing about the city, no no
And I, I, I hate the countryside too

And I hate everything about you
Everything about you

And I don’t like a thing about your mother
And I, I hate your daddy’s guts too, boo-hoo
And I don’t like a thing about your sister, no no
‘Cause I, I, I think sex is overrated too

And I get sick when I’m around
I can’t stand to be around
I hate everything about you

As in played in my head, my wife said with a new spurt of anger, “I really hate Trump.” She then added, “And Mitch McConnell.”

So I think the song captures some thoughts very well. Especially when thinking about Trump.

I hope your day is filled with kindness and love, and things you like. May you live long and prosper. *smile*

Cheers

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑