Watching blood
Come out of your
Pecker
Gauging
Its
Seriousness
Wondering
What’s
Next?
The Writing on the Page
I keep spying on the woman to my right.
Sounds quasi pervi, doesn’t it?
I just want to see her book, a small paperback. She flips through it, pen in hand, underlining passages.
I’m horrified and fascinated. Writing in books? I know others do this and it’s permitted under certain circumstances, but it’s something against my personal coda. Unless…is it a puzzle book?
What is this book she’s defiling? If only she’d put it down so that I can see it.
She left while I was busy writing. I never saw the book.
It’s another unsolved mystery.
Trump: Pretzel Logic
The war with Iran is not a war.
Trump reminded everyone we’re at war but also said he’s not going to use the word war because that would need approval. Also, the war that wasn’t a war stopped with the ceasefire in April, even though there’s shooting going on.
The really big question is, what do Dozing Donnie’s bones say about the war?
At the same time, Trump also told Axios there was “nothing left” to bomb in Iran. Trump also said, “Any time I want it to end, it will end.”
Trump later told supporters at a Kentucky rally that same day that Washington “won” in Iran and the conflict was “over.”
You follow that? We were at war, we were never at war, it’s a mini-war, the war is over, and it’ll be over whenever Trump says it’s over.
Fine, fine pretzel logic.
“We have a war right now, and we’re to what, six weeks? They said, ‘What’s taking so long!’ We were in Vietnam 19 years.” Donald Trump, April 21, 2026.
Technically, the US can’t blockade Iran because that’s an act of war and we’re not at war, although we might be in a ‘mini-war‘.
Lindsey Graham is getting into Trump’s pretzel logic: “If we can take back control of the Strait of Hormuz, it is checkmate. This thing is over.”
George Conway “Interesting. This must be a new kind of chess where you compete to put the pieces back where they were before you smacked them off the board.”
Meanwhile, smog is increasing in Utah and Arizona, but it’s not a problem. That bad air is from other places. Although it affects local citizens, Trump’s EPA ruled that the affected cities don’t need to do anything about them.
Did you hear, too, Trump says his economy is booming!
That’s what Trump told small businesses this week.
Small business bankruptcies surged 67% in the first quarter of 2026.
However, the stock market is doing well. Corporate profits are at record levels.
Not everyone is in the stock market. And even if corporations are making profits, not all employees will see much more money, except for in the C suite. People who aren’t in the stock market or a corporate exec paying $4.46 per gallon of gas in the US might not agree that the economy is booming.
Especially if that gas price goes to $7 per gallon, as some analysts suggest.
The U.S. average for regular gasoline was approximately $3.81 to $3.82 per gallon at that time.
What A Story!
Jill’s post, “Da ‘Toons Tell Da Story” sharply illustrate the foolhardiness of the Trump administration and his followers. I pulled a few favorites to share right here and now, but way more are on her page. Get thee over there to check ’em out!
My Five Favorites:
Friday’s Theme Music — Surrender
Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, May 1, 2026.
It’s 57 F outside and a high of 77 is predicted, despite clouds and haze obscuring the sun.
Good-bye April, hello May. As it’s May 1st, I’m staying home and not buying anything today.
The fifth month of 2026 begins with little change politically.
- Trump remains in office
- Prices are still rising, with gas in the US setting records for how fast they’re rising
- Kash Patel is still running the FBI but that’s not expected to last
- The Epstein files haven’t been released
- Trump’s approval ratings are falling and his disapproval is climbing
May begins as the third month with the US Schrödinger’s War with Iran where we’re at war and not at war. Common sense says we attacked them, bombed them, killed people, all in pursuit of Trump’s fragile objectives — ego, approval, masculinity. Iran has fought back and we have warships stationed over there. Ergo, it’s war.
Legal semantics are being employed to argue the US is not at war because, law. “Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL” began on February 28, 2026. Trump formally notified Congress on March 2. Today is then the legal deadline to either stop the war or get a formal Authorization for Use of Military Force. All eyes still wearily blink at Congress to see who among them have grown a spine.
Republicans argue that sudden withdrawal would embolden Iran. I think Trump’s failed bombing campaign is already doing that.
Newsweek offered some classic clickbait:
Donald Trump’s odds of winning 2026 Nobel Peace Prize surge
The article says they gave him a 55% chance of winning last year, and now give him a 25% chance. Sounds like Trump math. He’s still in sixth place or lower as a potential winner. In my mind, if they gave the prize to Trump after all his bombing and threats, the prize would lose all credibility.
Trump has seemed very low key, low energy recently. It’s like he checked out. Never one to be on top of things, he’s always been bombastically out there, pretending like he is. I wonder, though, if it’s not a culmination of his war against the press merging with the press’s weariness over his lies and attacks resulting in less reporting of him. Could be, too, that he’s simply retreating into trusted safe places.
Whatever the cause, the optics of his absence as ‘commander in chief’ promote the impression that he’s overwhelmed and flailing. Stacked on top of ‘the bulge’ in his pants, his weary appearance, and fewer, more muted appearances, I’m getting a lame duck vibe.
I’m looking forward to his May 17th Rededicate 250 speech. At this point, anything he says and claims about Making America Great Again is going to remind us about how much worse the nation is now compared to two years ago.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
I have “Sweet Surrender” by Sarah McLachlan in my morning mental music stream. This actually came about when my ginger fur friend, Papi, did a roll at my feet on the patio as we tested the weather together. I chortled and gave him some skritches and rewarded him with extra treats. His move seemed like he was doing a sweet surrender, but so did my response.
I hope this day goes well for you, with good friends, good food and drink, and good news.
Cheers
Thursday’s Theme Music – Fronts
Ashland, southern Oregon — April 30, 2026.
A new weather front has moved in. It’s 54 F under layers of clouds and sprinklings of sunshine, a typical Ashlandic spring day. Highs in the upper 70s are forecast for us. Right now, with all those clouds, it feels weirdly chilly.
Good news from the home front. Mom is electing to stay in assisted living and cooperating. She’s also agreed to sell her house and furniture. While it’s welcomed, it’s also so sad for her and our family. She wanted to be there; we wanted her to be there. Yet, practically, it could not work. Personally, I will miss go home, to her house, to hugging her in her living room, chatting with her in her kitchen, helping her with her laundry. And I will miss the many wonderful dishes she used to make. Her potato salad, spaghetti with meatballs, and chili all remain the best I ever had.
I will say, though, my sisters are a little annoying with their texting. They get up early, before six, and text. My first text from them came at 2:12 AM. I have my phone set up to notify me of texts from the family, in case there’s an emergency, but these were casual, informational texts. Okay, rant over.
No, I haven’t spoken to them about it. They’re doing so much to take care of Mom and help, etc. It would be really petty of me to complain to them about the time they send their texts. I’ll just whine here instead. *smile*
I’ve not seen much surface changes on the Trump front. The voting front is rapidly changing as the Roberts Court dish out their rulings and states respond. A situation as messy as first graders fingerpainting is going to get muddy and sloppy. That mud and slop favors the GOP and Trump. That’s why they’re pressing it. Not about democracy; it’s about staying in power.
Meanwhile, it’s been quiet on the Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! front and the Epstein front.
With the war in Iran at a stalemate, more conversations about the US military’s capabilities are emerging, such as this one. And they’re right; as often happens, the military fights the last war. We’re built for vast nuclear battles in the US with technologically sophisticated but expensive systems. Iran is countering us with different tactics and inexpensive weapons.
In a sense, what we’re seeing in this war echoes wars for the US back to the American revolution. The British were fighting an old war. The colonist changed tactics and won.
Changing policies and weapons in the US will be a challenge. As President Eisenhower warned, the military-industrial complex has a firm hand on procurement. Defense companies manage Congress through projects, manufacturing, and employment. We build systems as much for our economy as much as we do for our security. Meanwhile, the public nods agreeably because, ‘patriotism’.
Trump is responding by increasing the defense budget and calling for more expensive weapons systems. He’s pushing hard on a new class of Trump battleships. As with many things Trump, the battleships he envisions are outdated and bloated relics better fit for the past.
As the war stays stall, oil prices are slowly rising. A Gasbuddy AI analysis from March of 2026 is hilarious to read:
“GasBuddy’s latest projection paints a starkly different picture from the past. The company now forecasts the 2026 U.S. gasoline price average to fall to $2.97 per gallon, marking the fourth consecutive annual decline and the lowest average since 2020. This sets up a clear seasonal pattern, with prices expected to peak in May around $3.12 per gallon before declining steadily to a low in December of $2.83 per gallon.”
Mock Paper Scissors found a saner prediction from a Gasbuddy expert:
“GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan, a widely cited gas price expert, predicts the national average price at the pump will hit $4.50 a gallon within a week (currently $4.30).”
Never to shirk from taking advantage of a bad situation, British Petroleum is making some handsome profits from the war and the world energy situation.
Oil giant BP announces huge rise in profits in first results since Iran war
Your Trump quote of the day:
And as any driver now knows, that drop is already gone.
The Neurons observed my thoughts on fronts and responded. They put Elton John and “All Quiet on the Western Front” from 1979 in my morning mental music stream. Lifted from a movie of the same name, it’s not a song that comes on the radio much. The song’s tempo’s and musical style reminds me of “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” from 1975.
I hope your front is calm and peaceful and that you progress to better and better places for you in all ways possible.
Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music – Law & Order
Ashland, Oregon — Friday, April 23, 2025.
Rained earlier but a clear blue sky is above us now. Sunshine is warming us. We’re at 47 F but expect to hit the low to mid 70s today, spring weather at its finest.
Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! continues. Trump announced he’s ‘renovating’ the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with a pool cover. Classy as ever. He says some suggested covering it with granite; I’m surprised Trump didn’t leap at that, which was basically what he did to the historic White House Rose Gardens.
Trump had to do something. His approval ratings are tanking, and the DOJ announced they ended the criminal probe of the Fed head, Jerome Powell, without any indictments. That’s another failure in Trump’s efforts to persecute political enemies. Some indictments were also tossed because Lindsey Halligan was illegally appointed, which further tarnishes Trump’s reputation.
Your Trump quote of the day:
Trump fired Bondi nine months later as part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!
Trump is right, the Trump administration is THE TALK OF THE WORLD.
They’re talking about how Trump has disrupted world trade and global markets. Many are talking about how Trump caused a 40% increase in gas prices in the US. They are talking about Trump’s disastrous war in Iran, now going into its 8th week. They’re talking about his spat with the Pope and how many people he’s ordered killed in his multiple military operations.
And they’re still talking about Trump and Epstein, and why Trump is so desperate to bury the Epstein files. In that regard, Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is backfiring.
The morning mental music stream was filled with “Lawyers, Guns and Money”. The song is by Warren Zevon, and it’s an angry tale about law, order, and things going wrong. This cover is by The Killers.
My hopes and wishes for you is that this is a happy, satisfying, and healthy Friday. Stack days like that, and you can have a good life.
Cheers
The Art of the Con
personnelente shared a post today about Trump. It’s divided into two convenient parts.
Part one reveals the GOP moves to honor Trump. The most horrible of these is a move to force the State Department to issue a Trump Peace Prize.
Part two is a recap by Daniel Dale of CNN about Trump’s Iran War lies, such as Trump’s lie that the Pope wants Iran to have nuclear weapons.
It’s a wonderful side by side comparison, revealing the GOP’s kiss-ass attitude toward Trump while showing that Trump is an absolute liar and can’t be trusted.
Check it out, please: Narcissus At The Pool, or “The Attack of the Ass-kissers”.
“Come From Away”
My wife and I had a mini-staycation yesterday. First we went to the matinee performance of a play, “Come From Away”. Dinner out at a Mexican restaurant followed.
- The Oregon Shakespeare Festival staged the play. A musical, the book is based on the 9/11 attacks and Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, when 39 aircraft and almost 7,000 people were diverted to the island after US and Canadian airspace was closed after the terrorist attacks.
- The play was energetic and uplifting. Production values and performances were superb. Afterward, we thought, it must have physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. Each actor played several rolls. They often picked up and carried chairs with them, representing their carry-on bags. Chairs and tables were re-arranged to be council meetings, diners, air-traffic control towers, buses, and aircraft.
- Gander was only a place of 9,000 itself, but with one of the largest airfields in the world. That airfield had been built during the early days of transatlantic travel, when a final fuel top off was needed to cross the ocean. Aircraft landed there coming and going from Europe.
- The people of Gander were powerfully represented as caring and giving. Differences were set aside to come together to help all these travelers cope with trying circumstances. Passengers had no idea what had happened for hours. Those who spoke little English, who came from places where martial law ruled, were terrified when soldiers arrived and began ordering them off the aircraft and onto buses.
- One person took it upon herself to find the animals in the aircraft and ensure they had food, water, medicine, and care. There was a lot of singing, dancing, and explanation, along with a new romance, and the end of an old one.
- Most interesting, high school students also attended. Many of them were confused about what was going on. While those of us born well before 9/11 were transfixed by history and our own memories, these young people were frequently baffled. History was explained to them after the play was over.
Last, most compelling, was the juxtaposition of the times. Here we are, so very polarized by the American president, Donald Trump, and his policies. Establishing guidelines that cuts the legs off of empathy and sympathy, giving speeches which demeans anyone who isn’t American, indeed, anyone who doesn’t support him, there we were, watching people coming together to help one another. It is especially poignant now, as Trump trashes Canada again and again, while declaring himself the ‘unity president’.
Watching the play was a very, very powerful experience. I highly recommend seeing it, if you ever have the chance.
It will remind you of what we can be.
Thursday’s Theme Music – Too Much
Ashland, Oregon — Thursday, April 16, 2026.
It’s fifty shades of spring green outside. How quickly the front yard tree went from being bare to full of green leaves. I was out there working on the yard the other day and noted how bare it was and wondered when its leaves would arrive. Then the leaves were full and green on it, as though they’d been delivered via Amazon. “Your leaves are on the way and will be delivered by 3:30 PM on Wednesday.”
It’s 46 now, up from 32 F, and expected to climb to 52 F. Thunderstorms are expected tomorrow.
In fifty shades of Trump, Republicans in Congress are sticking with their leader, refusing to hold him accountable for the war in Iran. Some have compared it to Operation Poseidon Archer under President Biden. It’s messy, but there was a difference in scope, costs, and intentions. Although President Biden’s operation lasted fifteen months, his administration notified Congress before military operations were ordered and carried out. Not so with Trump, who has been operating more unilaterally, limiting how much Congress is told, and sometimes not telling them until after the fact. President Biden’s operation was also well-defined in objectives and stayed in scope. Trump’s Iran war has been much broader and general, with no clear cut stated goals. While various reasons have been stated, Trump has also threatened to destroy Iran as a nation and attack civilian targets.
- Operation Poseidon Archer cost about $400 million a day, with a total of $5 billion dollars for the first year of operations. Trump’s Iran war has spent $1 billion dollars per day on average, with an estimated expense of 35 to 51 billion dollar so far. Some experts believe that Trump’s Iran war could exceed one trillion dollars.
- President Biden’s Yemen strikes had a relatively contained economic effect. Trump’s Iran war has caused gas prices to soar to $7 in some states while disrupting global air travel due to airspace closures.
- Trump’s war has also affected the price of fertilizer for US farmers. The Strait of Hormuz closure has restricted access to components like sulfur, which is required to manufacture phosphate fertilizers in U.S. plants. Many small farmers are facing fertilizer costs which are 30 to 40 % higher than planned. The scale of the impact on increased cost for food and consumer goods will depend on how long Trump’s Iran war lasts.
- Total deaths for President Biden’s Yemen operations were estimated at 106 to 337 lives. Trump’s Iran war has claimed an estimated five to ten thousand, so far. No US military members were killed in the Yemen operation, while Trump’s war cost fifteen US military members to date.
It all added up to too much. That was enough for Les Neurons to invite the Dave Matthews Band into the morning mental music stream with “Too Much” from 1996.
I eat too much
I drink too much
I want too much
Too much
Hey
Suck it up, suck it up
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up, yeah
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up baby
h/t to AZLyrics.com
Hope your day isn’t too much for you, and that all goes well.
Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 