Category: Information

The Running Dream

I was set up to run. I learned that there were four courses.

All were unfamiliar to me. A young man, this was a competition. Someone else signed me up for it. Their faith in me — and I don’t know who signed me up — flattered me. I vowed to do the I could.

The four courses were laid out over the course of several green hills. They were long distances but we were expected to sprint over them if we wanted to win. As I chugged over them, I discovered various degrees of muddiness despite a wealth of sunshine. Other competitors were encountered but all of us were focused on learning the courses and practicing our runs. Dressed in dark shorts and a white tank top, I did this for three or four days in a row. Then, while running on another day, I discovered crowds gathering to watch. As I ran by them, I heard some exclaiming to others, “He’s running the race.”

From other comments, I learned that everyone else had quit or had been eliminated. This fueled me to go faster and try harder. But I also learned that many people thought the competition were over. They were crossing the courses, forcing me to go through crowds. Seeing me still running, though, some of the people acted like officials and cleared a path for me. Some now began applauding and cheering. Others said, “He’s going to set a new world record.”

I awoke as I began the final course. I felt strong, exhilerated.

Cool dream.

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Saturda’s Theme Music

Yesterday, sunshine was uncorked on us. Washing through blue skies, our air temp crested 70 F and lived there for a while. Gorgeous day, right?

Today, it’s 51 F and sunny. But we’re only expecting 63 F. And…rain. Still, pretty springish winter day. ‘Bout average for Ashlandia on Saturda, March 1, 2025.

Yep, a new month has begun. Sixteen percent of 2025 has been experienced. Those expecting a calm after the 2024 elections are probably disappointed. Those working for the Federal government in any capacity are likely stunned. Those hoping for lower inflation are probably too overwhelmed for emotions.

One thing unchanged are the lies that come out of Trump’s mouth. ‘Another lie’: MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace smacks down Trump and Vance’s latest claims. No matter the subject, he will reliably lie, twist history, and bloviate, a fool who thinks himself a genius. He’s demonstrated these ‘qualities’ throughout his lifetime. Since he first announced his run for POTUS, it has been recorded and documented. And it sill goes on because his cult followers and the GOTP gleefully slurp it up by the spoonful.

Let me turn away from that. Take a coffee break for a while.

The Neurons dragged today’s song out of 2015. It came from a morning compound of wondering and cogitating as I slept-walked through the morning observances related to cleaning, feeding, eating, drinking. Prepping goes with all that. The routines induced a reflective miasma about being younger. Only, I was not the direct object of these thoughts; I was focused on Mom and Dad. Dad is with his third wife. In his nineties, he has issues but she’s younger than him by a decade and tends him well. His situation is solid.

Mom, though, is 89. She lives with her 95 year-old-fiance. It’s an old, three-story house. She falls a lot. Injuries and worries ripple out of each fall. She blames her back for her falls. I blame pride. I blame her refusal to accept her limitations and adjust her activities to their new scope. I understand; I don’t give up my routines. They’re routines because they comfort or reassure, or we enjoy them. These routines address something in our psychological makeup which isn’t easily altered.

The song is by Lukas Graham. As I went through the thought exercise of looking back, gazing forward, and reflecting on now, “7 Years Old” played in my morning mental music stream. The song is about reflections of being different ages and the attitudes and memories of that age prevail. So it was quite apt for my morning mental meandering.

Coffee and a doughnut are trespassing on my taste buds. Don’t know how they got past my defenses. Hope your day rocks in needed good ways. Here we go, in three…two…one…

Cheers

2

Looky Here

The reciprocal wave is rising. This is the reaction to the Great Shitstorm of 2025 and PINO Trusk’s Great Undoing of peace and prosperity. Sure, we didn’t have peace and prosperity everyday for everyone, but now it’s gettin’ ugly.

Atlanta Fed predicts negative 1.5 percent GDP growth in first quarter

Oh, boy, the Atlanta Fed has started an ugly trend of downgrading GDP growth.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve is projecting a contraction of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) of 1.5 percent in the first quarter, flashing a warning sign for the U.S. economy.

The Atlanta Fed last week was predicting 2.3 percent positive growth for the first quarter. A month ago, it was registering 3.9 percent growth.

PINO Trusk has only been in office one month and the economy is caving in. It’s almost like he’s deliberately destroying it.

It’s not just the Atlanta Fed feeling it.

Inflation as measured in the Federal Reserve’s preferred personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index came in at 2.5 percent annual growth on Friday, dipping by just a tenth of a percentage point after rising throughout the fall.

Personal expenditures decreased $30.7 billion, or 0.2 percent, in that report.

Consumer sentiment also fell off a cliff in January as measured by the University of Michigan’s monthly survey, dropping nearly 10 percent from January.

Perhaps of more concern for economists, consumer expectations for year-ahead inflation popped to their highest levels since November 2023, rising to 4.3 percent for next January from 3.3 percent in December.

A majority of CEOs polled last year by accounting firm PwC saw a recession coming within six months of October 2024.

“61 percent of respondents agree that the US economy will experience a recession in the next six months, up from 49 percent in our June 2024 survey,” PwC analysts found in last year’s survey.

61% of CEOs polled agree that a recession is coming? Why, that’s terrible economic news, innit? Must be, for folks who were whinging ’bout the price of eggs in November of 2024.

Egg prices keep going up. Here’s the average cost for a dozen across the U.S.

Avg. price of eggs has hit a new high

The average price of a dozen eggs in a US city hit $4.95 in January 2025; jumping by 19.5% in just one month, from $4.15 in December. The price of eggs is higher than ever before, with the previous peak at $4.82 in January 2023, and has nearly doubled since the same time last year.

That’s just eggs, right? We can live without eggs. Other prices aren’t increasing, are they? I’m just fearmongering, right?

Walmart shares tank on dismal forecast as retail giant warns of slowing sales

Walmart shares, which had risen about 72% in 2024 and hit a record high of $105 last week, were down 6%. Shares of rival retailer Target were down 1.6%, with Amazon 0.9% lower.

The company forecast adjusted earnings per share for the fiscal year ending January 2026 in the range of $2.50 to $2.60, below analysts’ expectations of $2.76, according to data compiled by LSEG.

To be sure, these are serious matters. They’re going to be made worse by PINO Trusk’s DOGE-led cudown of government services. I don’t want life to be miserable in the U.S. or the world, but this is the path which PINO Trusk and the GOTP are blazing.

We saw this coming.

We warned the rest of you.

Will PINO Trusk take action to address it? Well, right now, his focus is on making English the official language and lying to and insulting President Zelnsky.

President Trump to sign executive order making English the official language of US.

I wonder if Trump will be required to learn how to speak proper English if it’s now going to be the official language?

Somehow, I doubt it. He really seems incapable of learning. Then again, he is 78.

That’s pretty old for a job like that, innit?

6

Frida’s Wandering Political Thoughts

It’s good to laugh out loud in the morning. Which I did today, reading of a new Republican plan.

Republicans say states are pulling a fast one on Medicaid

Republicans in Congress see a way around the $880 billion budget shortfall they need to fill to extend President Donald Trump’s tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year.

States aren’t going to like it.

To qualify for federal Medicaid dollars, states must also kick in their own matching funds. GOP lawmakers want to stop states from taxing insurers and health care providers to raise that money, a maneuver that would leave states with a $612 billion hole in their budgets over the next decade.

This is fucking hilarious. The GOTP are amazingly ignorant. Which states depend most on Federal Medicaid? Why, the poorer states. We know this from studies, statistics, and history. For example, West Virginia, one of the nation’s poorest states, are solid Medicaid recipients. Guess what? They won’t have this money.

Guess what else? They solidly voted PINO Trusk into office.

Can you guess what other states fit a similar profile to West Virginia? If you guessed red states, reward yourself.

So here goes the GOTP, chasing some illusion of cleverness and logic in a move that will spite their supporters. It looks like if anyone is pulling a fast one, it’s the GOTP. Wasn’t PINO Trusk just bloviating a few days ago that they wouldn’t touch Medicaid? Oh, but that’s right, what am I thinking? He can’t be trusted. Everyone except his supporters know that.

Brace yourself for the reciprocal wave if they pull this one off.

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Frida’s Theme Music

Spring continues its bold approach in Ashlandia. Winter will probably bound back in a few days but for now, it’s a beautiful day. 43 F with blue sky and sunshine. At one point in this aging morning, I walked into the kitchen and was met by a fierce shineslam of bright light. Haven’t had that kinda experience in months. The weather ‘they’ tell us we’ll crack 71 F today. But we saw 73 F at my abode’s weather thingy yesterday, so I cautiously hopeful that more the 70s will make it to the show.

This is Friday, February 28, 2025. Yes, the end of the year’s second month has arrived. The third month begins tomorrow. That’s how it used to work. But with PINO Trusk’s shitstorm and the Great Undoing, who knows what it’ll be? Maybe he’ll declare it February 29. Perhaps he’ll get it in his head that if the calendar doesn’t advance, then he’ll never leave office. He’ll just label every day as Trump and then append them with numbers.

No, that’s actually too reasonable and logical for him and his band of broken people.

Today’s song shouldn’t surprise. “Beautiful Day” by U2 came into this world at the turn of the century. Just decades ago, that seems like a far away time. It’s in the morning mental music stream because The Neurons heard me look out the window and say, “Wow, look at that, Papi, it’s a beautiful day.” For the record, Papi the ginger blade, aka Meep and Butter Butt, agreed. Or seemed to. He went out into the sunshine, stretched, and then eyed everything for threats and intrusions.

Hope it’s a beauty where you are, too. No matter what, try to make it a strong day for yourself.

Coffee has now crept into my system, somehow getting in there when I put it in a mug and raised the mug to my lips and tilted the mug back. So here we go, one more time. Cheers

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Thurzda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

Look! Quick! PINO Donald J. Trump admitted that he was a fool.

It’s been so long since he’s told the truth by calling himself a fool that confusion was rampant over what was going on around the world.

Fortunately, the net knew that Trump was right, and was telling the truth: he’s the one who signed the 2019 agreement with Mexico and Canada.

And he’s a fool.

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Thurzda’s Wandering Thoughts

I’m pivoting to pop culture and movies today. Cuz Gene Hackman. The death of Mr. Hackman and his wife, Ms Arakawa, makes me long for the details and explanations of what happened to them. The open door, the space heater, the pills, etc. Makes me want to write a novel to explain it but my explanation would go off the rails and Gene Hackman would probably end up as a retired secret agent who used acting as a cover.

I enjoyed his work, though. He made his characters seem real and nuanced. As I read different tributes about Gene Hackman, I encountered a decent story in The Hollywood Reporter that listed Gene Hackman’s ‘ten best scenes’. I don’t disagree with their list. I’m not an expert on films (though I sometimes pretend to be to impress others) but I did enjoy all these movies.

Here’s their list. You can check out their whole story. For me, Gene Hackman’s top three films were Unforgiven, The Conversation, and The French Connection, with The Royal Tennenbaums lucking just outside those three.

In no particular order, The Hollywood Reporter list:

The Birdcage

Unforgiven

The French Connection

Hoosiers

The Conversation

Crimson Tide

The Royal Tennenbaums

The Poseidon Adventure

Superman

Mississippi Burning

I’m thankful that technology will let me continue to enjoy his talents and skills after his departure. RIP, Mr. Hackman and Ms Arakawa.

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Papi

Daily writing prompt
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
View all responses

I think I’d like to be my cat, Papi. With us almost eight years, he remains so wary, I’d like to be him and know if there are memories of events that shaped him.

Papi on the living room button chair.

I’d like to get some insights into what the little floof is thinking when he comes to me and sits by me, staring up. He often does this after he finishes eating. I assume he wants attention, affection, so I scratch his head and chin and pet him. It usually seems to answer his need but sometimes he scurries off like he’s disappointed.

I want to be him so I can find out where he goes when he disappears for an hour. I want to be him to gain insights into how much he endangers himself with his roaming. Kind of looking for reassurance that the worse which I imagine isn’t what’s happening. I want comfort that he’s not running from dogs, almost getting hit by cars, narrowly escaping bears, cougars, and foxes. I want to know what he has against the gray and white cat that shows up once in a while, and why they start yelling at each other. Is it territorial, politics, or something else, like a miscommunicaiton.

I just want to know who he is, what he thinks, and what he does. Really, is that asking too much?

3

Good Point

Saw this on Facebook and stole it to circulate. I think Ryan DeGooyer’s insight has some merit; many people miss connections between what their state offers and the Federal Medicaid program. To put this into context, remember that many people do not realize the ACA — the Affordable Care Act — is the same thing as “Obamacare”.

This list might help.

Ryan DeGooyer

I couldn’t figure out why there wasn’t even more outrage about impending Medicaid cuts. then saw a lady on tv state she wasn’t concerned because she’s on medi-cal… and I realized… some people don’t even know THEIR benefits are being cut because states often rename Medicaid (we all see where this is going right?). So, If you or your loved ones are covered by any of the following… they are talking about you:

Alabama: Medicaid

Alaska : DenaliCare

Arizona: Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)

Arkansas: Health Care

California: Medi-Cal

Colorado: Health First Colorado

Connecticut: HuskyHealth, Husky C (for aged, blind or disabled persons)

Delaware: Diamond State Health Plan (Plus)

Florida: Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Program (SMMC), Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) Program, Long-term Care (LTC) Program

Georgia: Medicaid

Hawaii : MedQuest

Idaho: Medicaid

Illinois: Medical Assistance Program

Indiana: Hoosier Healthwise, Hoosier Care Connect, M.E.D. Works, Health Indiana Plan (HIP), Traditional Medicaid

Iowa: IA Health Link

Kansas: KanCare Medical Assistance Program

Kentucky: Medicaid

Louisiana: Bayou Health, Healthy Louisiana

Maine: MaineCare

Maryland: Medical Assistance

Massachusetts: MassHealth

Michigan: Medical Assistance or MA

Minnesota: Medical Assistance (MA),

MinnesotaCare

Mississippi: Mississippi Coordinated Access Network (MississippiCAN)

Missouri: MO HealthNet

Montana: Medicaid

Nebraska: ACCESSNebraska, Nebraska Medical Assistance Program (NMAP)

Nevada: Medicaid

New Hampshire: NH Medicaid, Medical Assistance

New Jersey: NJ FamilyCare

New Mexico: Turquoise Care

New York: Medicaid Managed Care

North Carolina: Division of Health Benefits (DHB), Medicaid

North Dakota: North Dakota Medicaid Expansion Program

Ohio: Medicaid.

Oklahoma: SoonerCare

Oregon: Oregon Health Plan (OHP)

Pennsylvania: Medical Assistance (MA)

Rhode Island: RI Medical Assistance Program

South Carolina: Healthy Connections

South Dakota: Medicaid

Tennessee: TennCare

Texas: STAR+PLUS

Utah: Medicaid

Vermont: Green Mountain Care

Virginia: Cardinal Care

Washington: Apple Health

Washington D.C. : Healthy Families

West Virginia : Medicaid

Wisconsin: Forward Health, BadgerCare

Wyoming: Wyoming Medicaid

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