Tag: climate change

Tuesday’s Theme Music – All Mixed Up

Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, March 31, 2026.

March’s last day finds a dismal spring day in our valley. Rain, 49 F, high of 60 F, cloudy. Papi curls up and broods. I’m with him.

Mom reports blood in her urine and a UTI. She said she’s reported it to the staff, but nobody has seen her about it or given her antibiotics. Sis has volunteered to pick up Mom and take her to Urgent care.

Mom also said she is walking better, using her walker, and says she only fell once, when she was using the bathroom. She only uses her wheelchair when going to the bathroom.

My sisters are suddenly talking about Mom moving to an apartment. I can guess this is being pushed by finances. It’s not sustainable for Mom to stay in assisted living. Just costs too much.

I don’t see how moving her to an apartment is better than being on her own in her house. I’m sure Mom will argue that same point with my sister. My other sister had already said that Mom can’t live alone at home because of the mechanics of living: buying and preparing food, laundry, personal hygiene, cleaning. How will being in an apartment be any different?

I’m staying mute. Let them work it out for the moment. I’m weary of saying, “But, but, but — .” They want to follow this course, let it ride.

My wife addressed politics and world news this morning. “I can understand why people aren’t keeping up with the news. Trump started a war, kidnapped a president, talks about starting other wars, the ballroom. Then there’s all these other things going on. He’s having this named after himself or that. Prices are going through the roof. It’s all crazy and upsetting.”

Florida has chosen to rename an international airport after Trump. Trump showed drawings of a Miami skyscraper that’s said to be his library.

I think Florida should go all in, rename the state after him: Trumpistan. Why will become clear as extreme weather driven by climate change sinks and damages Florida. It’ll be the perfect symbol for misplaced lies, greed, and denial.

My wife laughed when she read the article about Trump’s library, saying, “Oh, honey, we’re gonna burn everything down that you ever touched.”

“Let It Ride” is in my morning mental music stream. The Neurons promoted it after I was thinking about trying — trying to do things, figure things out and understand, try to endure. That translated to try, try, try. Hearing that in my head, The Neurons added, “Would you let it ride.” So here we are.

Sis is giving updates that she has Mom at Urgent care. No drama yet, fingers crossed, knock on wood.

Cheers

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Trump – On the Face of It

As I read news and reflected on trends and events, I realized that not a whole lot will change once Trump is out of office. It’s a sad reflection but the MAGAts are dedicated to him. Doesn’t matter how well the country is or who is POTUS. They will always insist that Trump was better.

The evidence is clear. They disparaged President Biden as being too old, too tired, insisting he didn’t have it together mentally. Yet, with Trump now the oldest elected president and clearly showing signs of not having it together, they talk about other things.

Trump promised to do so many things — release Epstein files, no new wars, lower prices — and did none of it. They still love him.

Trump policies meanwhile are tremendously destructive to fresh air and water. He rolled back regulations after decades of progress. A reactionary, he’s undermining climate change efforts, sustainable clean energy projects, free trade, and healthcare. Doesn’t care what that does to people and doesn’t care what it does to the nation and world.

And his base love it. They always love it until it hits them in the face. Even then, though, they’ll insist, he’s still better than a Democrat.

Trump feeds off that. Despite telling the world that he is a unifier, Trump doesn’t just politically blast political opponents or their policies. He makes it personal and hateful. Democrats are denigrated as scum and the enemy. These are United States citizens and account for half of the adult population or more.

Trump says half the nation is ‘the enemy’.

His deployments of ICE and national guard units reflect this thinking. He sends in troops and law enforcement to battle protestors, calling them ‘terrorists’ when they’re nothing of the kind. ICE killed Renee Nicole Good; Trump called her a terrorist. ICE killed Alex Pretti; Trump called him a terrorist. Trump accused Good and Pretti of being violent, threatening ICE agents. Videos show the truth, that neither person threatened others.

Every act of violence, such as Charlie Kirk’s murder, is blamed on the left, no matter what facts show.

Trump’s base has embraced it all, and anyone in the GOP who wants to be the party’s next leader sees and understands what Trump has done. JD Vance had already demonstrated the spine of a jellyfish and will eagerly say and be whoever that base wants him to be. The message is hate, the enemy is progress, and the goal is power.

That’s the lesson that Trump has bestowed on the GOP. He wasn’t the first. He’s the latest in a line but clearly the most nakedly selfish, self-serving, lying, ignorant person to hold office.

Sadly, too many Republicans are willing to go along with this charade, pretending that Democrats — and immigrants — have never brought anything worthwhile to our nation. So long as that base willingly rides the tide of hate and ignores the truth, facts, and history, they will be a force we must endure and turn back.

All we can do is remind ourselves of history, keep track of the truth, and keep pushing back until we finally start moving forward again.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Wednesday, February 11, 2026, and it feels like spring is launching in Ashland. Let’s call it a false spring. 51 F with unchallenged blue skies and sunshine, 60 F is the expected high. Papi would be so happy, except a balmy breeze, which chases him back inside to nap his misery away.

I have dental surgery tomorrow, disrupting the normal flow, and spent time this morning responding to texts about Mom’s mental issues. Connecting dots, my thoughts turned toward an overheard conversation from yesterday.

Sitting in the coffee shop, typing and thinking, two women of about my age shared a table to my right. Music and conversations were cooking but now the room was empty. The two women’s conversation floated to me through the sudden quiet.

One chatted for a while about health concerns regarding her mother, daughter, and herself. The tone changed a little as the other one talked about her concerns over Trump’s policies, ICE, and the general news tone, which she referenced as ‘disturbing’.

The first woman agreed with her and they both addressed concerns about being tired and depressed. Then they touched hands and smiled, telling each other how much it meant to meet and have moments like this.

I studiously tried to stay out of their circle. But one glanced at me and smiled as they rose to leave. Smiling back, I said, “I hope you have a beautiful day.” Thanking me, she wished the same for me.

Their conversation resonated because it feels like an echo of my life, and other people I know. We’re all sailors trying to navigate change. Some of it is about aging, maturing, dying, not necessarily depressing but certainly generally somber matters. Norms for me and them are shifting, and so are expectations. Our emotions become compressed under the loads we carry.

With all that rolling through me, along with dreams, The Neurons’ morning mental music stream offering is Harry Styles singing, “As It Was”.

Chorus

In this world, it’s just us
You know it’s not the same as it was
In this world, it’s just us
You know it’s not the same as it was
As it was, as it was
You know it’s not the same

That about sums up my reflections this morning: it’s not the same.

Hope peace and grace find and carry you forward into a better future.

Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

It’s Friday, January 23, 2026. Eight more days, and 2026’s first month is done.

Ashland’s weather is again blue sky, sunshine, and 36 to 46 degrees F, with stagnant air. I guess the weather isn’t into changing much around here.

Reading of the advance of that big winter storm smothering the eastern U.S., I’m happy with my weather today. Snow, ice, freezing rain, sleet, and record cold temperatures are aligned to strike. All of you in that weather’s path, take care and hang on.

Tell me you don’t know the difference between weather and climate without telling me

It’s sad that people like Donald Trump don’t understand the difference between weather and climate. I don’t think it’s a failure of education as much as it’s lazy thinking. As they say, weather is your mood today; climate is your personality.

I’d like to insert a courtesy reminder that today is a Day of Truth and Justice. This is to remind us that an ICE agent killed a person, Renee Good, earlier this month. Since then, ICE has increased its presence and violence in Minnesota.

While official-sounding reasons about immigration sweeps are announced, the primary reason seems to be retaliation. That explanation fits with the pattern to date under Trump 47. Minnesota is blue and Donald Trump is levying vengeance on any state that he didn’t carry, in much the same way that he’s trying to bully other nations to do whatever he thinks is best.

To counter Trump’s tactics and strategy, a general boycott to support Minnesota and those suffering from ICE’s attacks on Americans is in effect today, January 23, 2026. If you care, don’t buy, please.

For me, that means staying at home to write and not spending any money for anything past what’s already committed for health, safety, and security, such as electricity and water.

The Neurons inserted a song by The Smiths in the morning mental music stream, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”. The trigger for the song’s recall was, “Why do I give valuable time to people who don’t care if I live or die?”

I believe it’s a general reflection that many of us are trying to improve everyone’s life. That includes some people who don’t care about others living or dying. Some even have expressed it online with lines like, “Die Liberal Scum”. It’s enough to make you wonder, as The Smiths did.

My hope for you today is that you’re safe, healthy, and warm. Happy would be nice, too, if it can be managed. For now, I’ll accept coffee. Cheers

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Short-sighted Solutions, Complex Problems

Drew Magery lashed out on SF Gate with an arresting piece, “JD Vance is a piece of s—t”. Magery critiqued how Vance carries on the Trump practice of bending reality and spreading misinformation.

Magery’s anger is contagious, and it hardens my own frustration with what’s happening in the United States. Examining the stack of events, it seems clear that Trump uses diversions from issues like the Epstein files to maintain his base support.

To his supporters, Trump offers solutions such as capping interest rates or creating home-buying schemes. These measures address symptoms and energize a base that distrusts banks, viewing them as elitist institutions.

Yet these proposals don’t address the root causes. Low wages and the reliance on credit to cover essentials push prices up via supply and demand. Credit card debt is a symptom of the U.S.’s market-oriented economy; a simple cap might make splashy headlines, but it won’t fix it.

Likewise, Trump’s attempts to encourage homeownership are unlikely to succeed. Housing supply is limited, and that limitation stems from a complex mix of zoning, construction, labor, and infrastructure issues. Increasing mortgage availability without addressing supply may even drive prices higher, as more buyers compete for the same homes.

The situation is worsened by climate change. Extreme weather, wildfires, and prolonged drought threaten housing stability and supply across the country. Yet Trump and the GOP consistently deny climate science and oppose measures to mitigate its effects.

Returning to Magery’s critique of JD Vance, the Trump Administration’s approach is to deny facts and evade responsibility, especially when policies produce negative outcomes.

That, to me, is the nub of the problem. Trump, the GOP, and their base want quick, easy solutions to systemic problems rooted in culture and structure. Real solutions require hard work, difficult choices, and confronting uncomfortable truths — none of which will happen if people continue to ignore facts.

MAGA is fundamentally about nostalgia — “Making America Great Again.” The movement promises a return to a simpler time but refuses to confront the long-term, structural problems which actually determine outcomes. They prefer finding easy targets as scapegoats.

This creates a cycle of frustration and illusion. So long as this pattern continues, the solutions pursued will recede further from reach. Military action won’t help. Greater attacks on immigrants won’t help. Crackdowns on protestors and freedom of speech won’t help. Nor will increased polarization and divisiveness.

If this cycle continues, I wonder, when will Trump’s base accept reality, roll up their sleeves, and go to work on the hard solutions?

Judging from what I read on sites crowing about Trump’s ideas and victories, many years will stack up before that happens.

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Must Share

Jill Dennison has again brought us a luscious pre-Thanksgiving offering to humor and politics. I didn’t want to share them but The Neurons felt they were so compelling…anyway, here are my favorites. Hope you go by her site to see the rest.

And the link to the rest…

When All Else Fails, There’s Still ‘TOONS!

And a bonus offering for your time…

Just in time for the holidays!


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Wenzdaz Theme Music

Blue sky. I see blue sky and sunshine. It looks so different today, Wenzda, November 19, 2025, then it did on Twozda, November 18, 2025. It’s only 40 F out under that blue sky and sunshine. Fall’s full impact has arrived as we shift toward winter. Dead leaves are browning, curling up and resting everywhere, like sayin’, done. Gonna be up to 50 F, so wear shorts.

Today’s song is one by The Wallflowers called “The Difference”. The Neurons gifted it to me because I was walking through the house and thought, something looks different. Then I stopped and puzzled through WTH looks different. Nothing came to mind but as I walked off, The Neurons began “The Difference” in the morning mental music stream.

Off I go to another medical appointment, some ultrasound for this or that, or maybe the other. One of those NPO things. I’m hungry and thirsty and keep automatically reaching for things to put into my mouth, forcing me to chastise myself, don’t eat that! Don’t drink that. Put that down! Bad boy.

I’ve been thinking about the economic bubble we’re in. This is the AI bubble. Look how much investment is attached to it. It’d driving employment, production, and growth plans. Big thing about it that I can see is that companies like Amazon are salivating over the idea of hiring less people. The GOP, especially Trump, is drooling over this. I guess they’re thinking, let’s use AI to hire less people so we can build more things that less people can afford, thereby increasing the wealth gap yet more.

Of course, others think, we’ll use AI and its predictive and analytical processes to more precisely predict weather! Except the Trump Regime cratered many of the satellites used in weather forecasting. He’s gonna turn them over to Musk’s companies. It feels like a bad idea, like it goes against that proverb, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Seems like as robotic manufacturing and AI management grows, less people will be working and more people will need assistance for things like food, medicine, and housing. As the GOP doesn’t want to give those things, it feels like we’ll then have greater homelessness, more sickness, and higher levels of deprivation and starving. But given that the GOP is erecting the means for the wealthy to live isolated and insulated from the masses, most of them won’t know. They don’t care but not knowing will help them sleep easier, and don’t we all want the wealthy to rest easy? Isn’t that why we cut them deals on their taxes and give them freebies, hmmm?

Sorry, the inner cynic broke free of his moorings and tossed around on the cynical sea. On to other things. May peace and grace find you, if you can afford it. Way it seems to be going, only those who can afford it will know peace and grace. At least I have coffee. Thank dog Trump lowered the tariffs that he raised on it, right? Of course, that doesn’t offset all the other things driving up the costs of food and coffee, does it? But what do we know? I know; let’s build some AI so we can ask it what we need to do. Then we can ask AI what it thinks of tax cuts for the wealthy, tariffs on imported goods, using the military on your own citizens, separation of church and state, climate change, things like that. Man, it’s getting to look like a fugly future.

Wish I could sip some coffee and mutter to myself over this, grumble grumble. Have a better one. Cheers

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Satyrdaz Theme Music

It’s the darkest of times, it’s the dumbest of times, it’s Trumpiest of times. Borrowed from Mock Paper Scissors.

Bold sunshine shoots the windows today, Satyrda, November 15, 2025. 52 F now, the other numbers are 65 and 42 F for the day’s highs and low. Sunshine and blue are dominating like an NFL team playing a high school JV team. Lovely to rest my eyes on the panorama and what remains of the colorful leaves after the wind tore through over the last several days.

I was walking yesterday evening. Sidewalks and paths are wealthy with discarded leaves. I kicked ’em up as I passed through them like I was six years old. I always enjoy making that ruckus among the leaves. Meanwhile, I deliberately summoned the music to “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel. My lyrics were adjusted to “Ashlandia State of Mind” and our local streets, activities, and centers of interest. After singing it last night and gazing out on this morning’s view, The Neurons resurrected the song for my morning mental music stream.

The Trump Regime has made statements about demanding all SNAP recipients re-enroll. They believe the debunked myths that SNAP is corruption riddled. 42,000,000 are receiving SNAP. The huge effort to re-enroll them all will fall on the states and the recipients. Recipients who are often children, working poor, struggling lower middle class, elderly and disabled. If this doesn’t scream, THE CRUELTY IS THE POINT, what does?

With the Trump Epstein Shutdown ended after a record run, attention is swinging hard to the Epstein files and Trump’s place among their annals. Dizzy Donny is displaying deeply demented demeanor. Many like me speculate that he knows the terrible things the files will reveal. Here’s hoping for the best.

BTW, that idea about 50-year mortgages is crackers. Won’t do much for helping affordability. Folks still need down payments, need the income for paying property taxes and insurance, and insurance is going higher and higher in many regions due to more extreme weather — but please, let us not say anything about climate change. Heaven forfend the TACO Regime even thinks about doing anything about that. See, with mega AI centers being planned and built, pollution will go yet higher. Demands on water will go yet higher. As will demands on electricity, causing the price of everything to increase, crushing affordability, but never mind all that. Realizing those things and planning to address those things takes something other than greed, lying, and cruelty, and that’s all the Trump Regime has.

The day is calling and the coffee is singing. My hope remains that peace and grace lift themselves up with a mighty shake and come around to yours and mine. Here we go again. Cheers

3

Satyrdaz Wandering Political Thoughts

Nope, nothing to see here.

It’s a well-established pattern. When Trump is afraid of truth and facts, he works hard to hide it. He hid his tax returns. Hid his grades. Now Trump is hiding his regime’s poor-jobs reports.

US employment report will not be published again as government shutdown drags on

Pretty much as expected after he fired the person who told the truth before. Evil works in darkness. And that’s Trump all the way.

With the shutdown now hitting the travel industry, more FAFO is being exposed. Nevada voted Trump into office 2024. Now, gosh, their economy is taking some hits, and Vegas is feeling it. Thanks to ICE and the cold welcome the Trump Regime extends to people entering the United States, tourism is down across the board, which isn’t good for Vegas. Now, with the Trump-Epstein Shutdown of 2025 marching through record territory, flights are being canceled…

Which also isn’t good for Vegas. So much winning!

As flights are canceled, Las Vegas’s tourism troubles deepen

More FAFO is rising over in MAGALand. This is the cattle ranchers edition. The price of beef in the U.S. is historically high. Part of the problem is drought which may be related to climate change. Dozy Donny doesn’t believe in climate change and takes no action agin’ it. With drought shrinking the feeding areas, the herds are shrinking. Disease affected cattle in Mexico, and with tariffs pushing up the price of beef coming in, well, it’s just basic supply and demand economics. But not in Dozy’s eyes; he thinks the beef industry is acting like Trump would do, which is to take advantage of the situation to raise prices and make profits. Of course, he immediately pushed buttons to launch an investigation…

Trump rants at America’s beef producers after failed Argentine deal

Congress actually took action against the consolidation of the meat-packing industry back in 2022 via the “Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act”. As meat prices were climbing, meat-packing companies were reporting record profits. The USDA is responsible for investigating these things. Wonder if DOGE had anything to do with reducing the USDA’s effectiveness for investigating these things back when DOGE cut the USDA’s workforce?

USDA offers staff buyouts, according to email, as Trump slashes workforce

What goes around, comes around.

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